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Olfactory Sex Attraction and Mating Behaviour in the Pine Sawyer Monochamus galloprovincialis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

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Abstract

The pine sawyer Monochamus galloprovincialis Olivier (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is a vector of the pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner and Buhrer) Nickle. Male and females of this species have a kairomonal attraction to host volatiles and Ips semiochemicals. Once on the host tree, males and females copulate and oviposition occurs. Bioassays using Y-tube olfactometry revealed that females were attracted to volatile compounds produced by males, but not to volatiles produced by females. However, immature males did not seem to release attractants for mature females and immature females did not show any attraction for mature males. A experiment designed to know about mating behaviour in this specie revealed that most of the males encountered females while they were walking. In all pairs both sexes contacted with antennae before copulation, however, in some occasions copulation did not proceed just after antennal contact. On the contrary, in all pairs observed, the male licked the elytra of the female with his mouth palpi just before copulation (licking); immediately afterwards, the male grabbed the female with his forelegs and mounted her suggesting a chemically mediated mate recognition by males.

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Acknowledgments

We thank people from Laboratorio de Sanidad Forestal (Junta de Castilla y León), Jose Manuel Heras (Castile and Leon Forest Service) for assistance in obtaining wild insects, Gerardo Sánchez (DGB, Madrid) for providing technical support. Dr. David R. Hall (Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich) reviewed the manuscript and made valuable comments. Financial support was provided by Dirección General para la Biodiversidad, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Madrid, (Spain).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Producción Vegetal y Recursos Forestales, ETSIIAA, Universidad de Valladolid, Avda. Madrid 44, 34004, Palencia, Spain

    Fernando Ibeas, Julio J. Díez & Juan A. Pajares

  2. ETSIIAA, Avda. Madrid 44, 34004, Palencia, Spain

    Fernando Ibeas

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  1. Fernando Ibeas
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  2. Julio J. Díez
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  3. Juan A. Pajares
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Correspondence to Fernando Ibeas.

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Ibeas, F., Díez, J.J. & Pajares, J.A. Olfactory Sex Attraction and Mating Behaviour in the Pine Sawyer Monochamus galloprovincialis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). J Insect Behav 21, 101–110 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-007-9104-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-007-9104-1

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