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Title: EVIDENCE FOR CONTACT SEX RECOGNITION PHEROMONE FOR THE ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE, ANOPLOPHORA GLABRIPENNIS (COLEOPTERA: CERAMBYCIDAE).

Author
item Zhang, Aijun
item Oliver, James
item Chauhan, Kamlesh
item ZHAO, B. - NANJING FORESTRY UNIV
item XIA, L. - SHANDONG SUNDAY GROUP
item XU, Z. - BEIJING FORESTRY UNIV.

Submitted to: Naturwissenschaften
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/11/2003
Publication Date: 8/12/2003
Citation: Zhang, A., Oliver, J.E., Chauhan, K.R., Zhao, B., Xia, L., Xu, Z. 2003 Evidence for contact sex recognition pheromone for the asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Naturwissenschaften. 90(9):410-413.

Interpretive Summary: The Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) is an invasive species that attacks, damages, and eventually kills a wide variety of healthy hardwood trees. It is a recent invader of the United States and Europe from Asia that has enormous destructive potential. In an attempt to eradicate these beetle populations, thousands of infested trees have been removed. The estimated potential urban impact to the Unites States is ~35% loss of total canopy cover, valued at $699 billion. Field observations of mating behavior in China suggested that a female-produced contact pheromone was almost certainly involved in sex recognition, since mating occurred only after male antennal contact with a female¿s body. Here we have shown that female-produced contact pheromone has been identified and the blend of five synthetic compounds effectively mimics the cuticular extract of females that elicits male courtship, suggesting that this hydrocarbon blend is the primary contact sex recognition pheromone for male A. glabripennis. The newly identified synthetic contact pheromone has potential to induce ALB males to enter and remain in monitoring traps or arrest ALB males on an insecticide strip or biocontrol dispenser.

Technical Abstract: A series of long-chain hydrocarbons comprise the cuticular waxes of both sexes of Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) adults. Although for the most part the gas chromatographic profiles are similar for the two sexes, five monounsaturated compounds were consistently more abundant in samples from females than in those from males. These compounds were identified as (Z)-9-tricosene, (Z)-9-pentacosene, (Z)-7-pentacosene, (Z)-9-heptacosene, and (Z)-7-heptacosene in the approximate ratio of 1:2:2:8:1, respectively. Antennal contact to a micro-centrifuge tube coated with synthetic mixture of the five compounds stimulated copulatory behavior in males. This is the first time that monounsaturated hydrocarbons, (Z)-9-tricosene, (Z)-9-pentacosene, (Z)-7-pentacosene, (Z)-9-heptacosene, and (Z)-7-heptacosene, have been implicated as contact pheromone components in the family Cerambycidae.