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A Male-Predominant Cuticular Hydrocarbon, 7-Methyltricosane, is used as a Contact Pheromone in the Western Flower Thrips Frankliniella occidentalis

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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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  1. Ian A. N. Dublon

    Present address: Department of Plant Protection Biology, Division of Chemical Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 102, Alnarp, Sweden, SE230 53

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Applied Entomology and Parasitology, School of Life Sciences, Keele University, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG, UK

    Oladele A. Olaniran, Akella V. S. Sudhakar, Ian A. N. Dublon, James G. C. Hamilton & William D. J. Kirk

  2. School of Physical and Geographical Sciences, Keele University, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG, UK

    Falko P. Drijfhout

  3. Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham Maritime, Kent, ME4 4TB, UK

    David R. Hall

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  1. Oladele A. Olaniran
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Correspondence to William D. J. Kirk.

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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

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