| Title: | Make love not war: a common arthropod defence compound as sex pheromone in the forest cockchafer Melolontha hippocastani |
| Author(s): | Ruther J; Reinecke A; Tolasch T; Hilker M; |
| Address: | "Institut fur Biologie, Freie Universitat Berlin, Haderslebener Str. 9, 12163, Berlin, Germany. Universitat Hamburg, Institut fur Organische Chemie, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 6, 20146, Hamburg, Germany" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1432-1939 (Electronic) 0029-8549 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Mate finding in the forest cockchafer, Melolontha hippocastani, occurs during a spectacular swarming period at dusk. The swarming flights are mainly performed by males whereas most of the females stay within the host trees and continue feeding. Males orientate towards damage-induced green leaf volatiles (GLV) allowing location of mechanically damaged foliage. In order to distinguish between unspecific leaf damage and damage caused by feeding females, male cockchafers orientate by a sex attractant. Here we show this compound to be 1,4-benzoquinone, which has been known for more than 40 years as a highly effective defence compound used by numerous arthropod species to repel enemies. 1,4-benzoquinone synergistically increased the number of males caught in GLV-baited funnel traps during the swarming period. Significantly more males landed on wire cages baited with a combination of 1,4-benzoquinone and GLV than on cages baited with only GLV. The results suggest that the sex pheromone of M. hippocastani might have evolved from a primary role as a defence compound" |
| Keywords: | Mate finding Melolontha hippocastani Plant volatiles Scarabaeidae Sex pheromone; |
| Notes: | "PubMed-not-MEDLINERuther, Joachim Reinecke, Andreas Tolasch, Till Hilker, Monika eng Germany 2001/06/01 Oecologia. 2001 Jun; 128(1):44-47. doi: 10.1007/s004420100634. Epub 2001 Jun 1" |
