Vespula vulgaris(Hymenoptera: Vespidae) gynes use a sex pheromone to attract males

2013 ◽  
Vol 145 (4) ◽  
pp. 389-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Brown ◽  
Ashraf M. El-Sayed ◽  
David Maxwell Suckling ◽  
Lloyd D. Stringer ◽  
Jacqueline R. Beggs
Keyword(s):  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Long Range ◽  
Sex Attractant ◽  
Mate Finding ◽  
Sex Attraction ◽  
Vespula Vulgaris ◽  
Baited Traps ◽  
Virgin Queens ◽  
Cotton Roll

AbstractSex attraction studies were carried out to investigate the mate-finding behaviour of invasiveVespula vulgaris(Linnaeus) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) wasps. Delta traps were baited with live, caged males, and gynes (virgin queens) ofV. vulgaristo determine whether either sex produced a long-range sex attractant. Traps baited with gynes caught 71 males, while the controls and live-male wasp baited traps did not catch gynes. Wind tunnel trials were performed to verify if the signal produced by the gynes was chemical in nature. First,V. vulgarismales were flown to live caged gynes, where more than half of the males tested flew upwind in a zigzagging pattern and made contact with caged gynes. Males were also flown to hexane rinses of gynes and flew upwind in a zigzagging pattern towards the gyne extract, although none made contact with the cotton roll stimulus. The results presented here demonstrate conclusively thatV. vulgarisgynes produce a sex pheromone.

IMPROVED PHEROMONE TRAP EXCLUSION OF THE BRUCE SPANWORM OPEROPHTERA BRUCEATA (HULST) (LEPIDOPTERA: GEOMETRIDAE) WHEN MONITORING WINTER MOTH OPEROPHTERA BRUMATA (L.) POPULATIONS

1988 ◽  
Vol 120 (4) ◽  
pp. 389-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth A. Pivnick ◽  
Dennis L. Barton ◽  
Jocelyn G. Millar ◽  
Edward W. Underhill
Keyword(s):  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Field Tests ◽  
Pheromone Trap ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Operophtera Brumata ◽  
Winter Moth ◽  
Baited Traps ◽  
Potent Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Bruce Spanworm

Abstract(Z,Z,Z)-1,3,6,9-Nonadecatetraene is a sex pheromone that attracts males of both the winter moth Operophtera brumata (L.) and the Bruce spanworm O. bruceata (Hulst). Tests were run to maximize the specificity of a pheromone trap for the winter moth by the addition of a previously discovered Bruce spanworm male inhibitor (BSMI), (E,Z,Z)-1,3,6,9-nonadecatetraene. Trap capture inhibition of O. bruceata would facilitate monitoring of winter moth as males of the two species are difficult to distinguish without dissection. Wind tunnel tests with O. bruceata males responding to the pheromone indicated that BSMI has a more potent inhibitory effect if males physically contact the compound. Field tests in an area where only O. bruceata was found demonstrated that pheromone-baited traps caught fewer O. bruceata with BSMI placed on the outside of the entrance holes than when it was placed on the inside of the trap, catching respectively 97 and 82% fewer males than traps baited with the pheromone alone. In an area where O. brumata predominated, BSMI, whether inside or outside the trap, did not affect O. brumata captures. However, O. brumata trap captures were reduced when BSMI was placed on rubber rings glued to the outside of the entrance holes to the traps even though control rings did not affect O. brumata captures. Evidence is presented indicating that hybridization is taking place between these two species where O. brumata has recently been introduced and that the response of the hybrids to the BSMI is intermediate between the two species.

scholarly journals Mate finding via a trail sex pheromone by a parasitoid wasp.

1995 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 900-904 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Fauvergue ◽  
K. R. Hopper ◽  
M. F. Antolin
Keyword(s):  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Mate Finding

The Presence of Disparlure, the Sex Pheromone of the Gypsy Moth, in the Female Nun Moth

1975 ◽  
Vol 30 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 672-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. Bierl ◽  
Morton Beroza ◽  
V. E. Adler ◽  
G. Kasang ◽  
D. Schneider ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Silver Nitrate ◽  
Silica Gel ◽  
Gypsy Moth ◽  
Lymantria Dispar ◽  
Mass Spectra ◽  
Sex Attractant ◽  
Chromatographic Retention ◽  
Nun Moth ◽  
Physical And Chemical

Disparlure, (cis-7,8-epoxy-2-methyloctadecane) the sex attractant of the gypsy moth, Porthetria (Lymantria) dispar, attracts the male nun moth, Lymantria monacha, in the field and is a highly effective olfactory stimulus in electroantennogram (EAG) and single-cell recordings. We have now analyzed the extract of 2000 abdominal tips of the female nun moth. Physical and chemical tests, which included gas-chromatographic retention times, elution volumes from silica gel and silica gel-silver nitrate columns, mass spectra, epoxide functionality, EAG-activity of chromatographic fractions with gypsy moth antennae, presence of disparlure precursor, all indicated that disparlure is present in the extract of nun moth sex glands. The optical activity of the natural disparlure of the two species has not yet been determined. Several authors have reported 1-0 that disparlure,

scholarly journals Beyond species recognition: somatic state affects long-distance sex pheromone communication

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1812) ◽  
pp. 20150832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Chemnitz ◽  
Petra C. Jentschke ◽  
Manfred Ayasse ◽  
Sandra Steiger
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Long Range ◽  
Sex Pheromones ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Species Recognition ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Central Processing ◽  
Pheromone Emission ◽  
Somatic State

Long-range sex pheromones have been subjected to substantial research with a particular focus on their biosynthesis, peripheral perception, central processing and the resulting orientation behaviour of perceivers. Fundamental to the research on sex attractants was the assumption that they primarily coordinate species recognition. However, especially when they are produced by the less limiting sex (usually males), the evolution of heightened condition dependence might be expected and long-range sex pheromones might, therefore, also inform about a signaller's quality. Here we provide, to our knowledge, the first comprehensive study of the role of a male's long-range pheromone in mate choice that combines chemical analyses, video observations and field experiments with a multifactorial manipulation of males' condition. We show that the emission of the long-distance sex pheromone of the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides is highly condition-dependent and reliably reflects nutritional state, age, body size and parasite load—key components of an individual's somatic state. Both, the quantity and ratio of the pheromone components were affected but the time invested in pheromone emission was largely unaffected by a male's condition. Moreover, the variation in pheromone emission caused by the variation in condition had a strong effect on the attractiveness of males in the field, with males in better nutritional condition, of older age, larger body size and bearing less parasites being more attractive. That a single pheromone is influenced by so many aspects of the somatic state and causes such variation in a male's attractiveness under field conditions was hitherto unknown and highlights the need to integrate indicator models of sexual selection into pheromone research.

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