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Abstract

Adult females of Monochamus alternatus are known to use palpation to recognize oviposition scars that contain eggs and to be deterred from oviposition. This study investigated the oviposition-deterring activity of a jellylike secretion deposited by the females immediately after oviposition and methanol extracts of female reproductive organs in the laboratory. When females searching for oviposition sites encountered artificial oviposition scars, they stopped walking and drummed the surface and inside of the oviposition scars with their maxillary and labial palpi. When the females encountered the artificial scars plugged with the jellylike secretion, most of them left the scars after palpation. In contrast, when females encountered artificial scars not plugged with the secretion, most of them deposited single eggs through the scars. In another experiment, most females left artificial scars treated with methanol extracts of the spermathecal gland or other reproductive organs after palpation, but most of them oviposited through the scars treated with methanol alone. The results showed that females' recognition of egg-containing scars and departure from such scars were mediated by the chemical(s) produced by their reproductive organs.