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The Male Abdominal Glands of Leucophaea maderae: Chemical Identification of the Volatile Secretion and Sex Pheromone Function

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Abstract

In Leucophaea maderae, male calling behavior involves the release of a sex pheromone from the abdominal sternal glands. An extract of sternal glands attracted conspecific females over a distance. The compounds present were identified as hydroxy-3-butan-2-one, (2R, 3R)-butanediol, senecioic acid, and (E)-2-octenoic acid. The same components are also present in male tergal glands. The identified compounds were tested on their own and in mixtures. Their biological function is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS, UMR 5548, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Bourgogne, 6 Bd. Gabriel, 21000, Dijon, France

    Jean-Pierre Farine, Daniel Sirugue, Dehbia Abed-Vieillard, Claude Everaerts, Odile Bonnard & Remy Brossut

  2. INRA, UMR 1129 FLAVIC, 17 Rue Sully, 86510, 21065, Dijon, France

    Jean-Luc Le Quéré

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  1. Jean-Pierre Farine
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  2. Daniel Sirugue
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  3. Dehbia Abed-Vieillard
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  4. Claude Everaerts
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Correspondence to Jean-Pierre Farine.

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Farine, JP., Sirugue, D., Abed-Vieillard, D. et al. The Male Abdominal Glands of Leucophaea maderae: Chemical Identification of the Volatile Secretion and Sex Pheromone Function. J Chem Ecol 33, 405–415 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-006-9224-7

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