Phyllotreta cruciferae

Six male specific compounds were isolated from the crucifer flea beetle, Phyllotreta cruciferae, and the same compounds plus two additional compounds were isolated from males of Aphthona flava, A. czwalinae, and A. cyparissiae. Three of the compounds were identified as (-F)-i r-himachalene, (-F)- ra w-a-himachalene (-F)-y-cadinene. Two other compounds were identified as new enantiomers of himachalene hydrocarbons that were previously identified from the fir trees, Abies alba and Abies nordmanniana. Finally, there were two himachalene alcohols and one nonsesquiterpene ketone that is a himachalene analog that were identified. The chemical and electrophysiological patterns are consistent with, but do not prove, a pheromonal function. 

Peng, C. W. and Weiss, M. J. (1992). Evidence of an aggregation pheromone in the flea beetle, Phyllotreta cruciferae (Goeze) (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology 18 875-884. 

It has been discovered that the crucifer flea beetle, Phyllotreta cruciferae Goeze, a significant pest of oilseed Brassica and other cruciferous crops in North America and Europe, uses a hydrocarbon pheromone. The first published evidence for a pheromone in P. cruciferae was that canola plants infested by unsexed adults were more attractive to both males and females than damaged plants only, in both laboratory and field bioassays (Peng and Weiss, 1992). Subsequently, Peng et al. (1999) determined with field bioassays that the males were the attractive sex, fitting the pattern of a male-produced aggregation pheromone. 

Soroka, J. J., Bartelt, R. J., Zilkowski, B. W. and Cosse, A. A. (2005). Responses of flea beetle Phyllotreta cruciferae to synthetic aggregation pheromone components and host plant volatiles in field trials../. Chem. Ecol., 31,1829-1843. 

FEENY, P., PAAUWE, K.L., DEMONG, N.J., Flea beetles and mustard oils Host plant specificity of Phyllotreta cruciferae and P. striolata adults (Coleoptera Chrysomelidae)., Ann Entomol. Soc. Am., 1970, 63, 832-841. 

The flea beetle Phyllotreta cruciferae has a narrow host range, feeding only from plants in the families Brassicaceae, Capparidaceae, and Tropaeolaceae. In the laboratory, the insect fed on plants of these families and the Limnanthaceae. All of these plants contain glucosinolates. Field experiments showed that allyl isothiocyanate (26) (Fig. 17.1) is a powerful attractant for adults of both Phyllotreta cruciferae and P. striolata (Feeny et al., 1970). 

NIELSEN, J.K., HANSEN, M.L., AGERBIRK, N., PETERSEN, B.L., HALK1ER, B.A., Responses of the flea beetles Phyllotreta nemorum and P. cruciferae to metabolically engineered Arabidopsis thaliana with an altered glucosinolate profile., Chemoecology, 2001,11,75-83. 

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