Odorous Secretion of Normal and Mutant Tribolium confusum

Abstract

An autosomal recessive mutant characterized by "melanotic stink glands" has been found in the tene-brionid flour beetle, Tribolium confusum. The contents of the reservoirs of both pairs of odoriferous glands become modified in two ways as the beetles age. (i) The quinones (2-ethyl- and 2-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone) present in the secretion are reduced to 1/20 of that normally found in the wild type. (ii) The contents may be modified into a high-molecular-weight polymeric substance, which becomes visible through the exoskeleton and, upon dissection, appears as a black solid lump. The medium in densely populated cultures of the mutant becomes moldy while that containing normal beetles remains particulate. This difference suggests that one of the functions of the secretions of the odoriferous glands is to prevent the growth of fungi or bacteria in the nutrient flour.

The carcinogenic effects of benzoquinones produced by the flour beetle

“…Beetles have defensive glands which secret quinones such as 2-methyl-p-benzoquinone, 2-ethyl-p-benzoquionone, hydroquinone (Alexander and Barton 1943, Loconti and Roth 1953, Engelhardt et al 1965, Blum 1978, Howard 1987, commonly referred to as benzoquinones. The darkling beetle family is the most prolific source of 2-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone and 2-ethyl-1,4-benzoquinone (Omaye et al 1981).…”

Toxicity Of Fenvalerate On Larvae Of The Susceptible And Resistant Strains Of <i>Tribolium Castaneum</i> (Herbst)

“…The red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) is an ubiquitous pest of economic importance which damages the products at both larval and adult stages. Due to severe infestations the flour may have a characteristic pungent odour and pinkishbrown in colour by the secretion of quinones (Markarian et al 1978), affecting the viscous and elastic properties of the flour and creating a taint which may cause gastric disturbances if used as food (Payne 1925;Engelhardt et al 1965;Mondal 1992). To avoid these, T. castaneum has usually been controlled primarily by the use of chemical insecticides (O'Donnell 1980;Evans 1985;Binns 1986).…”

1-Pentadecene Production in Tribolium confusum

“…The latter was considered to be a terminally unsaturated acyclic ketone, C14H260, on the basis of infrared, mass, and proton magnetic resonance (PMR) spectrometry. Although this colorless oil is produced in quantities larger than those of many other pheromones (1.08 mg per 1000 beetles) (2), the molecular weight of the ketone implied a volatility consistent with pheromonal activity. On this basis we investigated its structure and function.…”

“…Vapor-phase chromatography of the crude mixture was accomplished on an Aerograph model 661 gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector and a stainless steel column (5 feet by 1/8 inch) packed with 5 percent SE 30 on Chromosorb W. This procedure revealed several fastmoving components established as quinones, and a slow-moving component assumed to be the compound with a molecular weight of 210 found by Englehardt (2). ppm, J =7 hz; multiplet, 8 = 6.9 ppm), and a methyl ketone (singlet, 8 = 2.0 ppm).…”

“…They contain odoriferous glands which secrete a fluid that is stored in special reservoirs (2). Chemical analysis of this fluid established the presence of 1,4-benzoquinones, as well as other unknown compounds.…”