Abstract
In a laboratory bioassay, adult female Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) spent more time near filter paper disks that had been exposed to adult males than near unexposed disks; this effect was not observed on disks exposed to adult females. The response could only partly be explained by the known male-produced aggregation pheromone, neryl (S)-2-methylbutanoate, suggesting the presence of an unknown male-produced compound. In gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses, 7-methyltricosane was detected on disks exposed to males, but not on disks exposed to females. Extracts of cuticular lipids also showed relatively large amounts of 7-methyltricosane on males, whereas only trace amounts were found on females and none on larvae. Bioassays of synthetic 7-methyltricosane showed that adults responded only after contact. The response to this compound was clearly different from that to n-tricosane or hexane-only controls. Females that contacted 7-methyltricosane on glass beads stayed in the vicinity and frequently raised the abdomen, a behavior that rejects mating attempts by males. Males stayed in the vicinity and wagged the abdomen sideways, a behavior used in fighting between males. This is the first identification of a contact pheromone in the order Thysanoptera.
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Acknowledgments
Oladele Olaniran thanks the Education Trust Fund, Nigeria and Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria for providing a training fellowship. Akella Sudhakar acknowledges the support of the European Union under a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship (Project No: 252258, Project Acronym: PERFECT). David Hall was funded by Defra Horticultural LINK Project HL 01107. We thank Dudley Farman (NRI) for preparing filter disks and running the GC/MS analyses of exposed disks.
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Olaniran, O.A., Sudhakar, A.V.S., Drijfhout, F.P. et al. A Male-Predominant Cuticular Hydrocarbon, 7-Methyltricosane, is used as a Contact Pheromone in the Western Flower Thrips Frankliniella occidentalis . J Chem Ecol 39, 559–568 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-013-0272-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-013-0272-5