Chemistry and morphology of the pygidial glands in four Pterostichini ground beetle taxa (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Pterostichinae)

Vranić, Sofija; Ćurčić, Srećko; Vesović, Nikola; Mandić, Boris; Pantelić, Dejan; Vasović, Marija; Lazović, Vladimir; Zhang, Wang; Vujisić, Ljubodrag

doi:10.1016/j.zool.2020.125772

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The entrance of the collecting duct to the reservoir chamber is of great variability. It is located at the anterior or middle position in Scaritinae, Brachininae, and some Bembidiini, Pterostichini, Amarini, Carabini, Nebriini, Metriini, and Paussini [33,35,39,40,[42][43][44]. While it is located near the entrance of the efferent duct in Harpalini, Agonini, Chlaeniini, Dryptini, Anthiini, Lebiini, Trachypachini, Omophronini, Loxandrini, Catapieseini, Galeritini, and Zuphini [31,33,35,45].…”

Section: General Morphologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pygidial Glands in Carabidae, an Overview of Morphology and Chemical Secretion

Giglio

Vommaro

Brandmayr

et al. 2021

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Predator community structure is an important selective element shaping the evolution of prey defence traits and strategies. Carabid beetles are one of the most diverse families of Coleoptera, and their success in terrestrial ecosystems is related to considerable morphological, physiological, and behavioural adaptations that provide protection against predators. Their most common form of defence is the chemical secretion from paired abdominal pygidial glands that produce a heterogeneous set of carboxylic acids, quinones, hydrocarbons, phenols, aldehydes, and esters. This review attempts to update and summarise what is known about the pygidial glands, with particular reference to the morphology of the glands and the biological function of the secretions.

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Section: General Morphologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pygidial Glands in Carabidae, an Overview of Morphology and Chemical Secretion

Giglio

Vommaro

Brandmayr

et al. 2021

Life

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“…The only other hydrocarbon detected in our study was n-tricosane, which was present in the defensive secretion of C. (L.) clathratus in minor amounts (0.1%). Both hydrocarbons are very rare in the defensive secretions of ground beetles (Attygalle et al, 1992;Bonacci et al, 2011;Vranić et al, 2020). Hydrocarbons have not been previously recorded in the pygidial gland secretions of representatives of the tribe Carabini.…”

Section: Chemical Surveymentioning

confidence: 90%

The chemical composition of the secretions, their antibacterial activity, and the pygidial gland morphology of selected European Carabini ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

et al. 2023

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The pygidial glands of carabids produce strong-smelling vapours. In this study, we examined the chemical composition of the gland secretions and the structure of the glands in five species of Carabini ground beetles (one species from the subtribe Calosomatina and four species from the subtribe Carabina): Calosoma (Calosoma) maderae (Fabricius, 1775), Carabus (Carabus) granulatus Linnaeus, 1758, C. (Limnocarabus) clathratus Linnaeus, 1760, C. (Carabus) ulrichii Germar, 1823, and C. (Procerus) gigas Creutzer, 1799. Additionally, we tested the antibacterial potential of the pygidial gland secretions of the two latter species against 11 bacterial strains. In order to detect the chemical content of the secretions, we used gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The secretion extracts were applied against selected strains of medically important bacteria. We used bright-field microscopy to examine the morphology of the glands. We discovered a total of 11 chemical compounds in the pygidial gland extracts of the ground beetles we analysed. Ten of these compounds were identified as seven carboxylic acids, two hydrocarbons, and one aromatic aldehyde, while one chemical remained unidentified. Most of the components were isolated from the secretion of C. (L.) clathratus (nine), while the lowest number of compounds was found in C. (P.) gigas (two). Methacrylic acid was the most dominant compound by percentage in all five species, while angelic acid was also detected in all samples. As expected, salicylaldehyde was exclusively found in the species of the genus Calosoma Weber, 1801. The secretion of C. (P.) gigas was shown to achieve the highest level of antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enterica, and S. typhimurium (even the same level as the positive control streptomycin), while the secretion of C. (C.) ulrichii achieved the highest antimicrobial potential against Staphylococcus epidermidis, S. aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus cereus. The most noticeable difference in the structure of the glands between the two genera is that the reservoir in Calosoma is more significantly narrowed as it leads into the efferent duct, compared to that of Carabus.

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