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Population differences in male responses to chemical mating cues in the white-spotted longicorn beetle, Anoplophora malasiaca

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Abstract

Adult Anoplophora malasiaca beetles were collected from field populations inhabiting three different host plants: Citrus, Salix and Vaccinium. Male orientation responses towards odours of wounded branches of each host plant were examined. Males of all three populations were attracted most frequently to odours of their original hosts, indicating that male orientation behaviour was induced by the odours of the plants from which they were originally collected. We also observed the mating responses of the males to elytra extracts from young and mature females of the three populations and chemically analysed those extracts. Citrus males were highly responsive to female extracts, regardless of origin. Salix males were less reactive than Citrus males, but responded moderately to female extracts of all populations. Vaccinium males were never attracted to Citrus female extracts and responded more to extracts from mature Vaccinium and Salix females, indicating that males might distinguish female origin and maturity. All eight hydrocarbons, four ketones, and three lactones that were previously identified as female contact sex pheromones were found in the extracts of three populations and both ages. Higher amounts of lactones on mature females likely caused greater male responses. These results suggested that males would be more likely to approach a female feeding on the same host plant and subsequently recognise her sexual maturity based on the profile of contact sex pheromones on her elytra.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Michiko Goto of Oita Prefectural Fruit Tree Research Institute for providing C. unshiu branches, Yasue Yaginuma of Ryozen-Tensan-no-Kai for collecting insects and providing S. schwerinii branches, Makoto Minamishima of Nagano Nanshin Agricultural Experiment Station for collecting insects, and Sadayasu Yanagishima of Ooshika Village for providing Vaccinium spp. branches. We also thank Takashi Noda and Taro Maeda of NIAS for collecting insects and Ikuko Hashimoto for assistance with the behavioural assays and insect rearing. This research was partially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), 23580081, from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan, 2011.

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Correspondence to Nao Fujiwara-Tsujii.

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N. Fujiwara-Tsujii and H. Yasui contributed equally to this article.

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Fujiwara-Tsujii, N., Yasui, H. & Wakamura, S. Population differences in male responses to chemical mating cues in the white-spotted longicorn beetle, Anoplophora malasiaca . Chemoecology 23, 113–120 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-013-0126-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-013-0126-1

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