Male scent organ

The edulans and dihydroedulans were first identified in passionfruit (Whitfield and Stanley, 1977 Prestwich et al., 1976). Subsequently, edulans were seen in human urine (Mills and Walker, 2001), while dihydroedulans have also been found in male scent organs of African butterflies (Schulz et al., 1993). The theaspiranes have been identified in green and black tea, as well as in a number of finits and berries (Schmidt et al., 1992). Later, a theaspirane was observed by SPME/GC-MS in urine from a female Asian elephant (Rasmussen, 2001). Recently, a dihydroedulan and a theaspirane were reported from giant panda urine (Dehnhard et al., 2003). 

Schulz, S., Boppr6, M., and Vane-Wright, R. L, 1993, Specific mixtures of secretions from male scent organs of African milkweed butterflies (Danainae), PAi/. Tram. R. Soc. fond. B 342 161-181. 

Larvae of the arctiid moth Creatonotos transiens accumulate pyrrolizidine alkaloids when they feed on plants containing these compounds. Other types of alkaloids tested were excreted in the frass (Wink and Schneider, 1988). Pyrrolizidine alkaloids act as precursors for pheromones, but also as morphogens for the development of the male scent organ (Wink and Schneider, 1988). 

Birch, M. C. (1969). Scent Organs in Male Lepidoptera. D.Phil. Thesis. Oxford University, Oxford. 

Boppre, M. and Schneider, D. (1985). Pyrrolizidine alkaloids quantitatively regulate both scent organ morphogenesis and pheromone biosynthesis in male Creatonotos moths (Lepidoptera Arctiidae). Journal of Comparative Physiology A 157 569-577. 

Boppre M., Petty R. L., Schneider D. and Meinwald J. (1978) Behaviorally mediated contacts between scent organs Another prerequisite for pheromone production in Danaus chrysippus males. J. Comp. Physiol. 126, 97-103. 

The major volatile component of the scent organ in male moths of... 

The occurrence of pyrrolizidine derivatives in the Lepidoptera is not confined to butterflies, but has also been observed in the tiger moth, where their function may be similar to that established in one species of butterfly. Male tiger moths (fam. Arctiidae) possess scent organs in the form of inflatable coremata which have a pheromone-distributing function. Some of these species are known to use plants containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids, e.g. Heliotropium europaeum and Echium... 

Most pheromones are synthesized de novo in the animal body. Some, however, are taken up from plant sources and are used directly or in a modified form (cf. the pyrrolizidines secreted as sex pheromones from male Danaid butterflies and myrcene used as sex pheromone of Dehdroctonus brevicomis Table 66). In Creatonotos moths, pyrrolizidine alkaloids ingested by the larvae with the diet, in addition to their action as pheromone precursors, show hormone-like activity and control the morphogenesis of the scent organs. 

Boppr6, M., R. L. Petty, D. Schneider, and J. Meinwald Behaviorally Mediated Contacts Between Scent Organs Another Prerequisite for Pheromone Production in Danaus chrysippus Males (Lepidoptera). J. Comp. Physiol., Sect. A 126, 97 (1978). 

Functional group transformations of epoxides rank among the fundamental reactions of organic chemistry and epoxides are commonplace natural products The female gypsy moth for example attracts the male by emittmg an epoxide known as disparlure On detechng the presence of this pheromone the male follows the scent to its ongm and mates with the female... 

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