Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Ancestral semiochemical attraction persists for adjoining populations of siblingIps bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

  • Published:
Journal of Chemical Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Three species ofIps pine bark beetles in Hopping's group IX (S.L. Wood'sgrandicollis group),Ips confusus, I. lecontei, andI. paraconfusus, are parapatrically distributed in the American Southwest. They share post-Pleistocene altitudinal ecotones with their host pines. Adjacent to these areas of host overlap, we tested the hypothesis that aggregation pheromones produced by male beetles and/or host volatiles are sufficient to elicit the speciesspecific colonization behaviors typical of these threeIps species in nature. A more distantly related species,I. pini (Hopping's group IV, S.L. Wood'spini group) was used for outgroup comparison. Under the influence of pheromone, males ofI. confusus andI. paraconfusus do not discern among unin-fested log bolts of host and nonhost pine prior to bark contact. Males responding to pheromones emanating from infested bolts are similarly undiscriminating. Females ofI. confusus andI. lecontei olfactorily discern the combination of conspecific males in host pine from other possible beetlepine combinations; females ofI. paraconfusus do not. FemaleI. pini discerned conspecific pheromone from that ofI. lecontei. The bark beetle predator,Enoclerus lecontei, is attracted by, but does not discriminate among, the male-produced volatiles of these Group IXIps species. These results support a hypothesis that divergence in pheromonal responses by these group IXIps species has evolved following their speciation, having been manifested first in the female sex. Evolutionarily, the derived pheromonal messages have preceded their behavioral discrimination by these beetles. Additional speciesspecific cues may operate between the sexes in the field that may preclude heterospecific pairings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

References

  • Barr, B.A. 1969. Sound production in the Scolytidae (Coleoptera) with emphasis on the genusIps.Can. Entomol. 101(6):636–672.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barron, J.R. 1971. A revision of the Trogositidae of America north of Mexico.Mem. Entomol. Soc. Can. No. 75.

  • Bedard, W.D. 1965. The biology ofTomicobia tibialis parasitizingIps confusus in California.Contrib. Boyce Thompson Inst. 23:77–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bedard, W.D., andBrowne, L.E. 1969. A delivery-trapping system for evaluating insect chemical attractants in nature.J. Econ. Entomol. 62:1202–1203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berryman, A.A. 1966. Studies on the behavior and development ofEnoclerus lecontei (Wolcott), a predator of the western pine beetle.Can. Entomol. 98:519–526.

    Google Scholar 

  • Betancourt, J.L. 1984. Late Quaternary plant zonation and climate in southeastern Utah.Great Basin Natur. 44:1–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Betancourt, J.L., andVan Devender, T.R. 1981. Holocene vegetation in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.Science 214:656–658.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birch, M.C., andWood, D.L. 1975. Mutual inhibition of the attractant pheromone response by two species ofIps (Coleoptera: Scolytidae).J. Chem. Ecol. 1:101–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birch, M.C., Svihra, P., Paine, T.D., andMiller, J.C. 1980. Influence of chemically mediated behavior on host tree colonization by four cohabiting species of bark beetles.J. Chem. Ecol. 6:395–414.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borden, J.H. 1984. Semiochemical-mediated aggregation and dispersal in the Coleoptera, pp. 123–149,in T. Lewis (ed.). Insect Communication. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borden, J.H. 1985. Aggregation pheromones, pp. 257–285,in G.A. Kerkut (ed.), Vol. 9,in Comprehensive Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology. G.A. Kerkut and L.I. Gilbert (eds.). Pergamon Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, J.A. 1983. Sex-specific responses to aggregation pheromone: Regulation of colonization density by the bark beetleIps paraconfusus.J. Chem. Ecol. 9:129–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, J.A. 1988. Upwind flight orientation to pheromone in western pine beetle tested with rotating windvane traps.J. Chem. Ecol. 14:189–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cane, J.H. andWood, D.L. 1990. Attraction of a pinyon pine bark beetle,Ips hoppingi, to conspecific andJ. confusus pheromones (Coleoptera: Scolytidae).J. Chem. Ecol., Submitted.

  • Cardé, R.T., andBaker, T.C. 1984. Sexual communication with pheromones, pp. 355–383,in W.J. Belland, R.T. Cardé (eds.). Chemical Ecology of Insects. Sinauer Assoc., Sunderland, Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, K. 1982. Late Quaternary zonation of vegetation in the eastern Grand Canyon.Science 217:1142–1145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Critchfield, W.B., andLittle, E.L., Jr. 1966. Geographic distribution of the pines of the world. USDA For. Serv. Misc. Publ. 991, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, J. 1960. Late Tertiary microflora from the Basin and Range Province, Arizona.Science 132:147–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, M.D., andKarandinos, M.G. 1979. Resource partitioning of the sex communication channel in clearwing moths (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) of Wisconsin.Ecol. Monogr. 49:403–426.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopping, G.R. 1963. The natural groups of species in the genusIps DeGeer in North America.Can. Entomol. 95:508–516.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopping, G.R. 1965. North American species in group IX ofIps de Geer.Can. Entomol. 97:422–434.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordon, D.S. 1905. The origin of species through isolation.Science 22:545–562.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaneshiro, K.Y. 1983. Sexual selection and direction of evolution in the biosystematics of Hawaiian Drosophilidae.Annu. Rev. Entomol. 28:161–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanier, G.N. 1970a. Biosystematics of North AmericanIps (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Hopping's group IX.Can. Entomol. 102:1139–1163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanier, G.N. 1970b. Biosystematics of the genusIps (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in North America. Hopping's group III.Can. Entomol. 102:1404–1423.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanier, G.N., andBurkholder, W.E. 1974. Pheromones in speciation in Coleoptera, pp. 161–189,in M.C. Birch (ed.). Pheromones. Elsevier-North Holland, Amsterdam. 495 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanier, G.N., andWood, D.L. 1975. Specificity of response to pheromones in the genusIps.J. Chem. Ecol. 1:9–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanier, G.N., Birch, M.C., Schmitz, R.F., andFurniss, M.M. 1972. Pheromones ofIps pini (Coleoptera: Scolytidae): Variation in response among three populations.Can. Entomol. 104:1917–1923.

    Google Scholar 

  • Löfstedt, C., andVander Pers, J.N.C. 1985. Sex pheromones and reproductive isolation in four European small ermine moths.J. Chem. Ecol. 11:649–666.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, D.R., Madden, J.L., andBorden, J.H. 1986. Primary attraction ofIps latidens (LeConte) andHylastes gracilis LeConte (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) to high-girdled lodgepole pine,Pinus contorta var.latifolia Engelmann.Can. Entomol. 118:85–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, T.W., andLanier, G.N. 1986. Interspecific activity of semiochemicals among sibling species ofPissodes (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).J. Chem. Ecol. 12:1587–1601.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice, R.E. 1969. Response of some predators and parasites ofIps confusus (LeC.) to olfactory attractants.Contrib. Boyce Thompson Inst. 24:189–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, M.J., andWagner, W.E., Jr. 1987. Asymmetries in mating preferences between species: Female swordtails prefer heterospecific males.Science 236:595–597.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, D.E., andBedard, W.D. 1987. California five-spinedIps. U.S. Forest Service Insect and Disease Leaflet No. 102. 8 pp.

  • Sokal, R.R., andRohlf, F.J. 1981. Biometry, 2nd ed. W.H. Freeman and Co., New York. 859 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, R.S., andVan Devender, T.R. 1982. Late Pleistocene vegetational records from desert grassland in the Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona.Am. Quat. Assoc. Abst. 7:167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilden, P.E., Bedard, W.D., Wood, D.L., Lindahl, K.Q., andRauch, P.A. 1979. Trapping the western pine beetle at and near a source of synthetic attractive pheromone: Effects of trap size and position.J. Chem. Ecol. 5:519–531.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vité, J.P., Gara, R.L., andvon Scheller, H.D. 1964. Field observations on the response of bark beetles infesting southern pines.Contrib. Boyce Thompson Inst. 22:461–470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells, P.V., andBerger, R. 1967. Late Pleistocene history of coniferous woodland in the Mojave Desert.Science 155:1640–1647.

    Google Scholar 

  • West-Eberhard, M.J. 1984. Sexual selection, competitive communication and species-specific signals in insects, pp. 283–323,in T. Lewis (ed.). Insect Communication. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, D.L. 1982. The role of pheromones, kairomones, and allomones in the host selection and colonization behavior of bark beetles.Anna. Rev. Entomol. 27:411–446.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, D.L., andVité, J.P. 1961. Studies on the host selection behavior ofIps confusus (LeConte) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) attackingPinus ponderosa.Contrib. Boyce. Thompson Inst. 21:79–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, D.L., Browne, L.E., Silverstein, R.M., andRodin, J.O. 1966. Sex pheromones of bark beetles I. Mass production, bioassay, source, and isolation of the sex pheromone ofIps confusus (LeC.).J. Insect Physiol. 12:523–536.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, D.L., Browne, L.E., Bedard, W.D., Tilden, P.E., Silverstein, R.M., andRodin, J.O. 1968. Response ofIps confusus to the synthetic sex pheromone in nature.Science 159:1373–1374.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, S.L.1982. The bark and ambrosia beetles of North and Central America.Mem. Great Basin Natur. 6:1359 pp.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology and Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn University, 36849, Auburn, Alabama

    James H. Cane

  2. Department of Entomological Sciences, University of California, 94720, Berkeley, California

    David L. Wood & Joseph W. Fox

Authors
  1. James H. Cane
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David L. Wood
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Joseph W. Fox
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cane, J.H., Wood, D.L. & Fox, J.W. Ancestral semiochemical attraction persists for adjoining populations of siblingIps bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). J Chem Ecol 16, 993–1013 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01021007

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01021007

Key words