Experimental Evidence for Three Pheromone Races of the Scarab Beetle Phyllophaga anxia (LeConte)

Abstract

This study offers experimental evidence for the existence of three pheromone races of the northern genitalic form of Phyllophaga anxia: one race in which females produce and males respond mainly to L-valine methyl ester, a second producing and responding to L-isoleucine methyl ester, and a third producing and responding to an intermediate range of blends of the two compounds. At Franklinville, NY, pheromone gland contents of females were analyzed using coupled gas chromatography-electroantennogram detection. Two types of females were found, one that produced greater than 99% L-valine methyl ester and another that produced greater than 99% Lisoleucine methyl ester. Capture-mark-release-recapture field tests with males at Franklinville established that most males were recaptured in traps baited with the same blends with which they were originally captured. The populations characterized at Franklinville, NY, have also been found at numerous locations from eastern Canada and the northeast and north central USA, sometimes in allopatry and sometimes in sympatry. At a site in Carver, MA, P. anxia males responded to blends of the methyl esters of L-valine and L-isoleucine, and Carver females produced blends similar to those to which the males responded. Populations responding to blends have been identified only from southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. At a field site near Waterloo, NY, the addition of small proportions of L-isoleucine methyl ester to lures containing L-valine methyl ester did not affect trap captures, but higher proportions of L-isoleucine methyl ester were inhibitory, decreasing trap captures.

Chemical ecology and insect conservation: optimising pheromone-based monitoring of the threatened saproxylic click beetle Elater ferrugineus

“…More than 60% of the captured males were later recaptured (Fig. 3), which is a much higher recapture rate than normally observed in mark-release-recapture studies using pheromone traps (Robbins et al 2008;Kishita et al 2003;Ö strand et al 2000; but see Zhang and Schlyter 1996).…”

Response to a Synthetic Pheromone Source by OX4319L, a Self-Limiting Diamondback Moth (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) Strain, and Field Dispersal Characteristics of Its Progenitor Strain

“…Assortative mating within strains of the same insect species with different pheromone components, or different ratios of those pheromone components, has also been described (Zhu et al 1997, Pélozuelo et al 2004, Pélozuelo et al 2007). Environmental factors can have a large influence on changes in pheromone-based communication systems (Svensson et al 2002, Yang and Du 2003, Pélozuelo et al 2004, Robbins et al 2008). It is possible, through differing selection pressures or genetic drift, that populations of P. xylostella maintained over many generations in laboratory or factory-rearing conditions could develop distinct behaviors or characteristics that would affect their interactions with wild individuals in an open-field setting or their ability to be monitored by pheromone lures.…”

Changes of Sex Pheromone Communication Systems Associated with Tebufenozide and Abamectin Resistance in Diamondback Moth, Plutella xylostella (L.)

“…Traditionally, sex pheromone communication systems in moths have been assumed to involve strong stabilizing selection on emitters and receivers, and such stabilizing pressure would allow only small, incremental changes in pheromone systems over time (Paterson 1980). However, more recent investigations have revealed that many environmental factors can cause notable changes in these systems (Krokos et al 2002;Svensson et al 2002;Bashir et al 2003;Jun et al 2003;Yang and Du 2003;Pelozuelo et al 2004;Nosil et al 2007;Robbins et al 2008), and assortative mating can occur between different strains of the same insect species with different pheromone components or different ratios among components (Zhu et al 1997;Pelozuelo et al 2004).…”