| Title: | A contact sex pheromone component of the emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) |
| Author(s): | Silk PJ; Ryall K; Barry Lyons D; Sweeney J; Wu J; |
| Address: | "Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Atlantic Forestry Centre, P O Box 4000, Fredericton, NB E3B 5P7, Canada. psilk@nrcan.gc.ca" |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00114-009-0513-1 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1432-1904 (Electronic) 0028-1042 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Analyses of the elytral hydrocarbons from male and female emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, that were freshly emerged vs. sexually mature (>10 days old) revealed a female-specific compound, 9-methyl-pentacosane (9-Me-C(25)), only present in sexually mature females. This material was synthesized by the Wittig reaction of 2-decanone with (n-hexadecyl)-triphenylphosphonium bromide followed by catalytic reduction to yield racemic 9-Me C(25), which matched the natural compound by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (retention time and EI mass spectrum). In field bioassays with freeze-killed sexually mature A. planipennis females, feral males spent significantly more time in contact and attempting copulation with unwashed females than with females that had been washed in n-hexane to remove the cuticular lipids. Hexane-washed females to which 9-Me-C(25) had been reapplied elicited similar contact time and percentage of time attempting copulation as unwashed females, indicating that 9-methyl-pentacosane is a contact sex pheromone component of A. planipennis. This is the first contact sex pheromone identified in the Buprestidae" |
| Keywords: | Animals Coleoptera/*physiology Female Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Hydrocarbons/chemistry/isolation & purification Male Organophosphorus Compounds/isolation & purification Pheromones/chemistry/isolation & purification/*physiology Sex Characteristi; |
| Notes: | "MedlineSilk, Peter J Ryall, Krista Barry Lyons, D Sweeney, Jon Wu, Junping eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Germany 2009/02/25 Naturwissenschaften. 2009 May; 96(5):601-8. doi: 10.1007/s00114-009-0513-1. Epub 2009 Feb 24" |
