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(Z,Z,E)-3,6,8-Dodecatrien-1-ol, A Major Component of Trail-Following Pheromone in Two Sympatric Termite Species Reticulitermes lucifugus grassei and R. santonensis

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Abstract

Trail-following bioassays show that trails of the two subterranean termites, Reticulitermes lucifugus grassei and R. santonensis, which are sympatric in some areas of southwestern France, are not species specific. Even when tested just above threshold level, trails from pentane extracts of whole workers of R. santonensis are always preferred by both species. If the R. santonensis extract is progressively diluted, the preference is lost. In purified extracts of workers of R. lucifugus grassei that elicited a trail-following response, only one compound is active. It was identified by GC-MS as the same major compound of the trail-following pheromone of R. santonensis: (Z,Z,E)-3,6,8-dodecatrien-1-ol (DTE-OH). The threshold concentration of activity of synthetic DTE-OH was determined to be 10−3 ng/cm of trail; optimal activity was obtained at 10−2 ng/cm of trail. The increase of trail-following activity of worker extracts of R. lucifugus grassei after hydrolysis by potassium hydroxide suggests that DTE-OH also is bound to other components in sternal gland secretions. DTE-OH was also identified in alates of R. lucifugus grassei, suggesting that the compound functions both as a trail-following and a sex pheromone, as has been shown to be the case in R. santonensis. This demonstrates the high economy developed by termites in their strategies of chemical communication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Zoologie, Université de Bourgogne, C.N.R.S. UMR 5548 “Développement, Communication Chimique”, 6 Bd. Gabriel, 21000, Dijon, France

    Birgit Wobst, Jean-Pierre Farine, Alain Robert, Odile Bonnard, Sophie Connétable & Christian Bordereau

  2. Laboratoire de Recherches sur les Arômes, I.N.R.A, 17 Rue Sully, 21034, Dijon, France

    Christian Ginies & Etienne Sémon

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  1. Birgit Wobst
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  2. Jean-Pierre Farine
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  3. Christian Ginies
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  4. Etienne Sémon
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  5. Alain Robert
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  6. Odile Bonnard
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  7. Sophie Connétable
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  8. Christian Bordereau
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Wobst, B., Farine, JP., Ginies, C. et al. (Z,Z,E)-3,6,8-Dodecatrien-1-ol, A Major Component of Trail-Following Pheromone in Two Sympatric Termite Species Reticulitermes lucifugus grassei and R. santonensis . J Chem Ecol 25, 1305–1318 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020922708599

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