Abstract
It is well-known that Bactrocera oleae (olive fruit fly) females attract conspecific males by using 1,7-dioxaspiro[5,5]undecane (1) as the main component of their sex pheromone, and that 1 is produced in the female rectal gland. Although some authors have claimed that B. oleae males also attract females, to date no male-produced female attractants have been found in this species. In this paper, we report the first identification of a substance unique to males and able to attract females. The findings of the study include the following: (1) females responded in a bioassay to hexane extracts obtained from rectal glands of 15-day-old B. oleae males, (2) the presence of (Z)-9-tricosene (2) was consistently and unambiguously identified in these extracts using gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry methods, (3) in preliminary bioactivity tests, low doses (equivalent to a few males) of chemically and stereoisomerically pure synthetic (Z)-9-tricosene (2) attracted olive fruit fly females. Interestingly, compound 2, commonly called muscalure, is also a well-known component of the house fly (Musca domestica) sex pheromone.
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Acknowledgements
This research was financially supported by M.I.U.R. (Ministry of Education, University and Research–Italy)–P.R.I.N. 2007. We thank Dr. Adrian J. Wallwork for proofreading the English.
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Communicated by: Sven Thatje
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Carpita, A., Canale, A., Raffaelli, A. et al. (Z)-9-tricosene identified in rectal gland extracts of Bactrocera oleae males: first evidence of a male-produced female attractant in olive fruit fly. Naturwissenschaften 99, 77–81 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-011-0868-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-011-0868-y