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Cuticular Hydrocarbons of the South American Fruit Fly Anastrepha fraterculus: Variability with Sex and Age

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Abstract

Insect cuticular hydrocarbons are usually species-specific mixtures and may serve for species and gender recognition. They are, therefore, widely used in the chemotaxonomy and zoogeography of various insect taxa. In order to provide a basic study for further comparative analyses of cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles of cryptic species hidden within the South American fruit fly Anastrepha fraterculus complex (Diptera: Tephritidae), we analyzed the composition of the CHCs and their production with respect to age and sex in a laboratory population from Tucuman, Argentina. Several techniques of gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection have been used in order to develop a suitable method for CHC identification, i.e., GC-MS in EI mode, GC-MS in CI mode, and GC×GC/TOFMS. Our analyses revealed a complex profile of aliphatic hydrocarbons in both males and females, consisting predominantly of n-alkanes, methyl-branched alkanes, as well as of alkenes and alkadienes. In young individuals (up to about 5 days after emergence), the CHC profiles were similar in males and females. However, in older flies, these profiles diverged and became clearly sex-specific. The temporal dynamics of the CHC patterns in both sexes were evaluated using multivariate exploratory techniques.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Andrew Jessup and Dr. Jorge Hendrichs from the International Atomic Energy Agency for kindly providing us with the insect. We acknowledge Dr. Robert Hanus (Infochemicals Research Team, IOCB, Czech Republic) for valuable comments on the manuscript. Financial support was provided by the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (subvention for development of research organization RVO: 61388963), the International Agency for Atomic Energy, United Nations, Vienna (Research Contracts No. 16106 and 16051), and the Max Planck Society. We thank Sybille Lorenz (Research Group Mass Spectrometry, ICE-MPI, Germany) and RNDr. Anna Březinová (Research Group Mass Spectrometry, IOCB, Czech Republic) for their skillfull assistance with the GC-MS experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the AS CR, v.v.i., Flemingovo nám. 2, CZ-166 10, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    Lucie Vaníčková, Aleš Svatoš, Michal Hoskovec, Radka Břízová & Blanka Kalinová

  2. Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague, Technická 5, CZ-166 28, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    Lucie Vaníčková & Radka Břízová

  3. Research Group Mass-Spectrometry, Max Planck Institute of Chemical Ecology, Beutenberg Campus, Hans-Knöll-Str. 8, 07745, Jena, Germany

    Aleš Svatoš

  4. Research Group Insect Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute of Chemical Ecology, Beutenberg Campus, Hans-Knöll-Str. 8, 07745, Jena, Germany

    Johannes Kroiss & Martin Kaltenpoth

  5. Instituto de Química e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, BR 104 Norte Km 14, 57072-970, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil

    Ruth Rufino Do Nascimento

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  1. Lucie Vaníčková
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Correspondence to Lucie Vaníčková.

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Vaníčková, L., Svatoš, A., Kroiss, J. et al. Cuticular Hydrocarbons of the South American Fruit Fly Anastrepha fraterculus: Variability with Sex and Age. J Chem Ecol 38, 1133–1142 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-012-0177-8

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