Host plant chemicals serve intraspecific communication in the white-spotted longicorn beetle, Anoplophora malasiaca (Thomson) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Abstract

Chemical components that attract males in the laboratory were extracted from the female elytra of the white-spotted longicorn beetle, Anoplophora malasiaca (Thomson) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), and found to be comprised of several sesquiterpene hydrocarbons. Males located females that had fed on the bark of the host plant Citrus unshiu more frequently than those fed on an artificial diet in the laboratory. Male attraction was also confirmed in the corresponding sesquiterpene fractions of the host plant. The sesquiterpene fractions of female elytra and C. unshiu leaves showed quite similar GC profiles. In the field, the beetles were found on C. unshiu trees baited with intact females or males as frequently as those baited with the leaf extracts containing the sesquiterpenes at different purification levels. The beetles were found on those baited trees significantly more frequently than on unbaited control trees. Males, as well as females attracted both sexes, and the male elytra also contained the sesquiterpenes that were identical with those in female and C. unshiu. This indicated that active components in the elytra are acquired from C. unshiu by feeding, contact and/or adsorption. These sesquiterpenes may serve for intraspecific communication in A. malasiaca. The major sesquiterpenes from the C. unshiu leaves were isolated and elucidated by NMR analyses of four sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, b-elemene, b-caryophyllene, a-humulene, and a-farnesene.

Chemical ecology of insect–plant interactions: ecological significance of plant secondary metabolites

“…In the white-spotted longicorn beetle, Anoplophora malasiaca (Cerambycidae), Yasui et al 78) demonstrated that host plant sesquiterpenes (e.g. 47 in Citrus leaves) serve as a cue in their intraspecific communication.…”

Chemical communication in mate location and recognition in the white-spotted longicorn beetle, Anoplophora malasiaca (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

“…In contrast, there is no behavioral evidence for female-or male-specific sex attractant pheromone of A. malasiaca (Fukaya et al, 1999(Fukaya et al, , 2000(Fukaya et al, , 2004a(Fukaya et al, , b, 2005aAkino et al, 2001;Yasui et al, 2003Yasui et al, , 2007b. Males as well as females attract both sexes.…”

“…Males as well as females attract both sexes. The attractant is in volatiles derived from host Citrus unshiu (Yasui et al, 2007b(Yasui et al, , 2008. The role of host plant volatiles in A. malasiaca is discussed in detail in the following sections.…”

“…The major sesquiterpene hydrocarbons isolated by preparative GC were analyzed by NMR and identified as b-elemene, b-caryophyllene, a-humulene and a-farnesene ( Fig. 1) (Yasui et al, 2007b). …”

“…However, the mating systems of Monochamus alternatus endai (Fauziah et al, 1987;Kim et al, 1992), Xylotrechus pyrrhoderus (Iwabuchi, 1982(Iwabuchi, , 1985(Iwabuchi, , 1988Sakai et al, 1984;Iwabuchi et al, 1985Iwabuchi et al, , 1986, Psacothea hilaris (Fukaya and Honda, 1992, 1996aFukaya et al, 1996Fukaya et al, , 1997, and especially A. malasiaca have been examined in various contexts, and a comprehensive representation has emerged for these species. Host plant chemicals play a role for searching mates at long and short distances in A. malasiaca (Yasui et al, 2007b(Yasui et al, , 2008. There are complex chemicals for mate recognition as contact pheromone in A. malasiaca (Fukaya et al, 1999(Fukaya et al, , 2000Akino et al, 2001;Fukaya, 2003;Yasui et al, 2003Yasui et al, , 2007a.…”