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Allyl‐2,6‐dimethoxyphenol, a female‐biased compound, is robustly attractive to conspecific males of Bactrocera dorsalis at close range
Author(s) -
Shen Jianmei,
Hu Liming,
Zhou Xinhua,
Dai Jianqing,
Chen Binghan,
Li Shufeng
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/eea.12833
Subject(s) - bactrocera dorsalis , biology , tephritidae , olfactometer , pheromone , mating , courtship , sex pheromone , attraction , pest analysis , zoology , courtship display , bactrocera , botany , ecology , host (biology) , linguistics , philosophy
Insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) play important roles in mate recognition and chemical communication. To explore the cues regulating courtship and mating behaviour in the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae), CHCs were extracted from mature virgin female and male oriental fruit flies using n‐hexane. Nine compounds – i.e., 4‐allyl‐2,6‐dimethoxyphenol (designated ‘compound 3’) and eight ester compounds – had significantly greater abundance in female samples than in males. Of these nine compounds, six (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8) elicited electrophysiological responses from the antennae of male flies. Compound 3 did not elicit a detectable male antennal response, but in Y‐tube olfactometer bioassays, it exhibited robust attractiveness to conspecific males at close range. We speculate that compound 3 is a close‐range sex pheromone in B. dorsalis . A mating competition experiment revealed that compound 3 significantly increased the competitiveness of males, which implied that compound 3 might be used in control programs of B. dorsalis .