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Identification of male-borne attractants in Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae)

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Abstract

The South American fruit fly is one of the most destructive polyphagous pests in South America. In this species, males gathered in aggregations emit volatiles that attract females; however, the compounds involved in this task remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the chemical composition of the volatile blend emitted by males aiming to identify the specific compounds within this blend that elicit behavioral responses in conspecific females. For this purpose, we performed chemical and electrophysiological analyses and bioassays. The chemical analyses revealed the presence of 29 compounds in headspace samples of A. fraterculus males, of which six compounds, i.e. α-pinene, limonene, (Z)-3-nonen-1-ol, (E,Z)-3,6-nonadien-1-ol, α-farnesene and (S,S)-(−)-epianastrephin, triggered antennal depolarization in conspecific females. In laboratory bioassays, five out of eight synthetic compounds tested individually elicited more behavioral responses than a hexane control, but only the synthetic mixture composed of all EAD-active compounds triggered behavioral responses in females similar to the responses to the headspace samples of conspecific males. In an experiment under semi-natural conditions, the synthetic mixture was more attractive to females than a hexane control and equally attractive to headspace extracts of males. This study reports the identification of male volatile compounds that act as attractant for A. fraterculus females, which may be useful for the control of this pest in infested orchards.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the valuable comments of the two anonymous referees in an earlier version of this manuscript. This work was supported by: FAO/IAEA, Vienna, Austria (the funding was provided to Research Contracts No. 16051 as part of the Coordinated Research Project on the Resolution of the Cryptic Species Complexes of Tephritid Pests to Overcome Constrains to SIT Application and International Trade), and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil (CNPq, Proc. Nos. 555094/2010-3, 308695/2011-9 and 376348/2012-7), and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague (RVO: 61388963). A patent application has been filled for this discovery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Química Fundamental, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil

    Paulo Milet-Pinheiro & Daniela M. A. Navarro

  2. Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany

    Paulo Milet-Pinheiro

  3. Instituto de Química e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Avenida Lourival de Melo Mota, s/n, Tabuleiro, CEP 57072-970, Maceió, AL, Brazil

    Nathaly C. De Aquino, Luana L. Ferreira, Raphael F. Tavares, Rita de Cássia Correia da Silva, Alana Lima-Mendonça, Lucie Vaníčková, Adriana L. Mendonça & Ruth R. Do Nascimento

  4. Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, AS CR, Flemingovo n. 2, 166 10, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    Lucie Vaníčková

Authors
  1. Paulo Milet-Pinheiro
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  2. Daniela M. A. Navarro
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  3. Nathaly C. De Aquino
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  4. Luana L. Ferreira
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  5. Raphael F. Tavares
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  6. Rita de Cássia Correia da Silva
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  7. Alana Lima-Mendonça
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  8. Lucie Vaníčková
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  9. Adriana L. Mendonça
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  10. Ruth R. Do Nascimento
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Correspondence to Ruth R. Do Nascimento.

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Handling Editor: Thomas Schmitt.

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Milet-Pinheiro, P., Navarro, D.M.A., De Aquino, N.C. et al. Identification of male-borne attractants in Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae). Chemoecology 25, 115–122 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-014-0180-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-014-0180-3

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