Abdominal glands

One well-analysed chemosignal system is that of the Red-bellied Newt (Cynops pyrrhogaster). Males of this species produce from the abdominal gland a semiochemical protein (sodefrin) with marked VNO activity as a female attractant (Kikuyama et al., 1997). Courtship displays of newts often contain tail-waving bouts, which direct cloacal or other secretions from the male toward female recipients (Fig. 3.1). A large stable molecule like sodefrin, alone or as part of a VNPr complex, is presumably suitable for such local transference. 

Yamamoto K., Kawai Y., Hayashi T., Ohe Y., et al. (2000). Silefrin, a sodefrin-like pheromone in the abdominal gland of the sword-tailed newt, Cynops ensicauda. FEBS Lett 472, 267-270. 

Attractive Compounds. Larvae of several click beetle species (wire worms) can be serious pests in agriculture and forestry. In a few cases, sex pheromones produced in a female specific abdominal gland, have been identified. 

Red-bellied newt Cynops pyrrhogaster Male Abdominal gland (cloaca) Attracts female Sodefrin (decapeptide) Kikuyama etal, 1995... 

Sword-tailed newt Cynops ensicauda Male Abdominal gland Attracts female Silefrin (decapeptide) Yamamoto etal., 2000... 

Male red-bellied newts, Cynops pyrrhogaster (Salamandridae), attract females with a pheromone that is released into the water from epithelial cells of the abdominal gland of the cloaca. A decapeptide called sodefrin (Ser-Ile-Pro-Ser-Lys-Asp-Ala-Leu-Leu-Lys) is the first amphibian pheromone with female-attracting properties ever chemically identified (Kikuyama etal., 1995). Silefrin in the related sword-tailed newt, Cynops ensicauda, is a similar decapeptide and differs from sodefrin in only two amino acid residues (Yamamoto et al, 2000) (Table 7.3). 

An ether extract of the abdominal glands of the female black chafers, Holotrichia loochooana loochooana (Coleoptera Scarabaeidae), elicited responses from males. Anthranilic acid was identified as the major compound by GC-MS and the amount extracted from each female chafer was estimated to be approximately 1.3 ixg/female. ... 

Cockroach mating behaviors, sex pheromones, and abdominal glands (Dictyoptera Blaberidae). Journal of Insect Behavior 6 715-735. 

Aldrich J. R., Lusby W. R., Kochansky J. R and Abrams C. B. (1984) Volatile compounds from the predatory i nsect Podisus maculiventris (Hemiptera Heteroptera Pentatomidae) male and female metathoracic scent gland and female dorsal abdominal gland secretions. J. Chem. Ecol. 10, 561-568. 

Mertins J. W. and Coppel H. C. (1972) Previously undescribed abdominal glands in the female introduced pine sawfly, Diprion similis (Hymenoptera Diprionidae). Ann. Ent. Soc. Am. 65, 33-38. 

A related species, the sword-tailed newt, was studied leading to the isolation and sequencing of the homologous peptide silefrin (16).69 Peptides 15 and 16, each produced in the abdominal gland of male red-bellied or sword-tailed newts, respectively, differ in only two of their ten amino acid residues (positions 3 and 8), yet neither attracts females of the other species. Furthermore, none of the foreign peptide could be observed by cross radioimmunoassay experiments with the abdominal gland from each species of male. The specificity of these otherwise closely related systems is elegant. 

There are mainly four aroma products from animal sources.112 In terms of extensive commercial use, all of them are substituted by synthetic materials. Musk113 is a material obtained from an abdominal gland (called musk pods) of the male musk deer. Civet113 extract is prepared from the perianal secretion of civet cat and exhibits a... 

Like many other insects, moths attract mates by long-distance pheromones. Females produce these pheromones in specialized abdominal glands. Chemically, they are acetates, often active in precise mixtures of geometric isomers. Males fly upwind, following the females pheromone plume to the somce, and mating ensues. In a typical experiment, a female moth, or just the pheromone, serves as odor source. An air current from that source helps to attract males who fly upwind to the pheromone source and attempt to mate. With this technique, we can compare the effects of known pheromones from different, related species on one species (species specificity). We can also test the attractiveness of different compounds that are stracturally similar to a known pheromone. In the laboratory, a wind tunnel, where available, is ideal, for this experience. 

Few sex attractants have been reported in insects of the order Hemiptera. Butenandt and Tam 11) isolated from certain abdominal glands of males of the tropical water bug [Lethocerus indicus (Lepe-letier and Serville) =Belostoma indica)] a substance which is believed to make the female more receptive to the male. The substance, possessing a cinnamonlike odor, was identified as the acetate of trans--2-hexen-l-ol. A homolog of this, the acetate of tranS -l-ocx.taA-ol was isolated from the bronze orange bug [Rhoecocoris sulciventris (Stal.)] in 1962 by Park and Sutherland 34)., who suggest that this substance may be a sex attractant for this insect. 

If you ve ever observed lines of ants moving in opposite directions, you have observed the influence of pheromones on insect behavior. When an ant finds food, it immediately heads toward its nest while secreting 9-oxy-2-decenoic acid from an abdominal gland. When other ants cross this acid trail, they compulsively follow it to the food source and carry the nourishment back to their nest. Soon, many ants will be following the acid trail and reinforcing it with their own 9-oxy-2-decenoic acid secretions. Eventually, the food source becomes exhausted, trail reinforcement stops, and the acid trail evaporates. Ants are so dependent on the acid trail that if a part of it were wiped away the ants following the trail in both directions would come to a complete stop. They wouldn t know where to go. 

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