Document Type

Article

Publication Title

PLOS One. 9

ISSN

1932-6203

Volume

9

Issue

12

First Page

e115498

Publication Date

12-2014

Abstract

We report here that (4R,9Z)-hexadec-9-en-4-olide [(R)-desmolactone] is a sex attractant or sex pheromone for multiple species and subspecies in the cerambycid genus Desmocerus. This compound was previously identified as a female-produced sex attractant pheromone of Desmocerus californicus californicus. Headspace volatiles from female Desmocerus aureipennis aureipennis contained (R)-desmolactone, and the antennae of adult males of two species responded strongly to synthetic (R)-desmolactone in coupled gas chromatography-electroantennogram analyses. In field bioassays in California, Oregon, and British Columbia, traps baited with synthetic (R)-desmolactone captured males of several Desmocerus species and subspecies. Only male beetles were captured, indicating that this compound acts as a sex-specific attractant, rather than as a signal for aggregation. In targeted field bioassays, males of the US federally threatened subspecies Desmocerus californicus dimorphus responded to the synthetic attractant in a dose dependent manner. Our results represent the first example of a "generic" sex pheromone used by multiple species in the subfamily Lepturinae, and demonstrate that pheromone-baited traps may be a sensitive and efficient method of monitoring the threatened species Desmocerus californicus dimorphus, commonly known as the valley elderberry longhorn beetle.

Publication Information

Ray, A. M., R. A. Arnold, I. Swift, P. A. Schapker, S. McCann, C. J. ¬¬Marshall, J. S. McElfresh, and J. G. Millar. 2014. (R)-Desmolactone is a sex pheromone or attractant for the endangered Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle Desmocerus californicus dimorphus and several congeners (Cerambycidae: Lepturinae). PLOS One. 9: e115498

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