Contact sex pheromones

Drosophila melanogaster is another dipteran where pheromone biosynthesis has been studied [92]. Adult sexually mature female D. melanogaster utilizes primarily Z7,Z11-27 H as a contact sex pheromone. The biosynthesis of this compound follows the biosynthesis of other hydrocarbon-derived pheromones (Fig. 3). It is biosynthesized in oenocytes [93], transported through the hemo-lymph by lipophorin [94], and deposited on the cuticle surface. Biosynthesis in the oenocytes follows a similar pathway [95] as that described for the house fly... 

Another contact sex pheromone was identified as a component of the cuticular lipids of females of Psacothea hilaris [350,351]. Extracts of the elytra contained (Z)-21-methyl-8-pentatriacontene 189. The synthetic compounds (both enantiomers were synthesized [352,353]) induced precopulatory behaviour in males, however, its biological activity was considerably lower than that of the natural extract. 

Male Megacyllene caryae Gahan (Coleoptera Cerambycidae) respond to females only after touching them with their antennae, indicating the presence of a contact sex pheromone. The hydrocarbon, (Z )-9-nonacosene, was identified as the major component of the contact sex pheromone of the beetle. ... 

Cupilure or (S j-TT-dimethyl citrate was identified as the contact sex pheromone of the female spider, Cupiennius salei. Chemical analysis, electrophysiology and behavioral assay demonstrated that it was indeed the contact sex pheromone." ... 

Sphodros abboti Probable female contact sex pheromone silk bound Coyle and Shear, 1981... 

Dysdera crocata 47 Erisidae w Contact sex pheromone Pollard et al., 1987... 

Purse-web spiders (Atypidae) capture their prey through the walls of a silk tube, thus hiding from the environment. Males stopped wandering around on sites from which female silk tubes had been removed (Coyle and Shear, 1981), suggesting a contact sex pheromone. However, the response could have been evoked by remnants of the silk tube. In the Hexathelidae, male Atrax infensus were attracted by volatiles from females, and this behavior was exploited to trap males, using traps with hidden females (Hickman, 1964). 

Coyle, F. A. and Shear, W. A. (1981). Observations on the natural history of Sphodros abboti and Sphodros rufipes (Araneae, Atypidae), with evidence for a contact sex pheromone. Journal of Arachnology 9 317-326. 

Dondale, C. D. and Hegdekar, . M. (1973). The contact sex pheromone of Pardosa lapidicina Emerton (Araneae Lycosidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 51 ... 

Hegdekar, . M. and Dondale, C.D. (1969). A contact sex pheromone and some response parameters in lycosid spiders. Canadian Journal of Zoology 47 -A. 

Ross, K. and Smith, R. L. (1979). Aspects of the courtship behavior of the black widow spider Latrodectus hesperus (Araneae Theridiidae), with evidence for the existence of a contact sex pheromone. Journal of Arachnology 7 69-77. 

Suter, R. B. and Renkes, G. (1982). Linyphiid spider courtship releaser and attractant functions of a contact sex pheromone. Animal Behaviour 30 714-718. 

Table 6.3. Chemical structures of the principal identified contact sex pheromones of cockroaches, listed by the species and sex that produces it contact pheromones are localized on the cuticular surface... 

Regulation of contact sex pheromone production in B. germanica operates at several levels, including (i) production of the 3,11-dimethylnonacosane precursor, (ii) its metabolism by female-specific oxidases to 3,ll-dimethylnonacosan-2-one, and (iii) transport and distribution of the pheromone to the epicuticular surface. Early in the life of an adult female, it appears that food intake is a major regulator of hydrocarbon production. Females produce hydrocarbons only when they feed, and experimentally starved females, or gravid females that feed less, produce significantly less hydrocarbon (Schal el al., 1994). Because a pool of precursor 3,11-dimethylnonacosane is required for pheromone to be made, little pheromone is produced when less hydrocarbon is available, for example in starved females. 

Gu, X., Quilici, D., Juarez, P, Blomquist, G. J. and Schal, C. (1995). Biosynthesis of hydrocarbons and contact sex pheromone and their transport by lipophorin in females of the German cockroach (Blattella germanica). Journal of Insect Physiology 41 257-267. 

Juarez, P., Chase, J. and Blomquist, G. J. (1992). A microsomal fatty acid synthetase from the integument of Blattella germanica synthesizes methyl-branched fatty acids, precursors to hydrocarbon and contact sex pheromone. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 293 333-341. 

Seelinger, G. and Schuderer, B. (1985). Release of male courtship display in Periplaneta americana evidence for female contact sex pheromone. Animal Behaviour 33 599-607. 

In contrast, the hydrocarbon contact sex pheromone of the German cockroach is synthesized in Class II oenocytes associated with the abdominal stemites (Young et al., 1999 Fan et al., 2002). These large oenocytes, ranging up to 50 p in in diameter in B. germanica, have abundant mitochondria and extensive smooth endoplasmic reticulum (Fan et al., 2002). Although the oenocytes are associated with abdominal stemites, the hydrocarbons are released into the hemolymph and loaded, probably across a plasma membrane reticular system, into high-density lipophorin. The lipophorin then likely transports the hydrocarbon to epidermal cells for release onto the cuticle (Fan et al., 2002). 

The Siphonaptera is another group where a volatile sex pheromone is yet to be demonstrated, although a contact sex pheromone has been demonstrated in preliminary experiments (Ralph Charlton, personal communication). The source and nature of this contact pheromone is yet to be deciphered. Fleas have been speculated to use a certain wavelength of light, C02, and visual and thermal stimuli for host localization, as traps that present these kinds of stimuli seem to be effective in trapping fleas (Benton and Lee, 1965 Osbrink and Rust, 1985 Dryden and Broce, 1993). 

Glossina auteni contact sex pheromone 15,19-dimethyltritriacontane Huyton and Langley (1982)... 

G. morsitans contact sex pheromone dimethyl-C37 alkane 15,19,23-trimethylhept triacontane Carlson et al. (1978)... 

G. pallidepes contact sex pheromone 13,23-dimethylpenta-triacontane Carlson etal. (1984)... 

Lycoriella mali Lixophage diatraeae Microdon piped contact sex pheromone larva position chemical mimicry of Camponotus modoc... 

A microsomal FAS was implicated in the biosynthesis of methyl-branched fatty acids and methyl-branched hydrocarbon precursors of the German cockroach contact sex pheromone (Juarez et al., 1992 Gu et al., 1993). A microsomal FAS present in the epidermal tissues of the housefly is responsible for methyl-branched fatty acid production (Blomquist et al., 1994). The housefly microsomal and soluble FASs were purified to homogeneity (Gu et al., 1997) and the microsomal FAS was shown to preferentially use methylmalonyl-CoA in comparison to the soluble FAS. GC-MS analyses showed that the methyl-branching positions of the methyl-branched fatty acids of the housefly were in positions consistent with their role as precursors of the methyl-branched hydrocarbons. 

Carlson D. A., Nelson D. R., Langley P. A., Coates T. W. and Leegwater-Vander Linden M. E. (1984) Contact sex pheromone in the tsetse fly Glossina pallidipes (Austen) identification and synthesis. J. Chem. Ecol. 10, 429 150. 

Langley P. A. and Carlson D. A. (1983) Biosynthesis of contact sex pheromone in the female tsetse fly, Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood. J. Insect Physiol. 29, 825-831. 

Figure 10.1 Metabolic pathways for the biosynthesis of 3,11-dimethylnonacosan-2-one and related sex pheromone components of the female contact sex pheromone of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica.

Yet another feature distinguishes JH control of contact pheromone production from control of volatile pheromone production in cockroaches. Although based solely on behavioral data, lack of JH III in females completely suppresses production of attractant pheromones, as for instance in S. longipalpa (section 10.7.1). The contact pheromone of B. germanica, on the other hand, is still biosynthesized in allatectomized females, albeit at a lower rate, probably because regulation of contact sex pheromone production operates at several levels, including the regulated production of its 3,11-dimethylnonacosane precursor (section 10.7.2.3). 

Transport of pheromones. Two major routes for translocation of pheromones have been considered in this chapter (a) from the secretory cell directly through the cuticle overlying it and (b) indirectly through the hemolymph. Cockroaches share with even the most studied lepidopterans an almost complete lack of information on the former pathway. Transport of hydrocarbons and contact sex pheromones, on the other hand, has been extensively studied in cockroaches, commencing with the work of Chino and colleagues. It has... 

Jurenka R. A., Schal C., Bums E., Chase J. and Blomquist G. J. (1989) Structural correlation between cuticular hydrocarbons and female contact sex pheromone of German cockroach Blattella germanica (L.). J. Chem. Ecol. 15, 939-949. 

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