Haberer Wolf, Schmitt Thomas, Peschke Klaus, Schreier Peter, Müller Josef K
Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
J Chem Ecol. 2008 Jan;34(1):94-8. doi: 10.1007/s10886-007-9406-y. Epub 2007 Dec 13.
Sexually mature male beetles of the genus Nicrophorus (Coleoptera: Silphidae) exhibit a conspicuous behavior, recognized as pheromone-releasing activity. Laboratory and field studies demonstrated that females are attracted to males that exhibit this behavior, both on or off reproductive resources. Here, we report the results of a study in which volatile chemicals released by calling Nicrophorus vespilloides were collected by solid-phase microextraction and analyzed by using coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. These analyses revealed that ethyl 4-methyl heptanoate and (E)-geranylacetone are emitted by males that engage in the behavior. In the field, traps baited with racemic ethyl 4-methyl heptanoate caught roughly equal numbers of male and female N. vespilloides. Some male and female Nicrophorus vespillo and male Nicrophorus humator were also caught in traps baited with this compound. Traps baited with (E)-geranylacetone did not catch significant numbers of beetles.
埋葬虫属（鞘翅目：埋葬虫科）的性成熟雄性甲虫表现出一种引人注目的行为，即被认为是释放信息素的活动。实验室和野外研究表明，雌性会被表现出这种行为的雄性所吸引，无论这些雄性是否处于繁殖资源上。在此，我们报告一项研究结果，其中通过固相微萃取收集了正在求偶的黄粉扁葬甲释放的挥发性化学物质，并使用气相色谱 - 质谱联用仪进行了分析。这些分析表明，参与该行为的雄性会释放4 - 甲基庚酸乙酯和（E）-香叶基丙酮。在野外，用外消旋4 - 甲基庚酸乙酯诱捕的陷阱捕获的黄粉扁葬甲雄性和雌性数量大致相等。一些黄粉扁葬甲的雄性和雌性以及腐葬甲的雄性也被用这种化合物诱捕的陷阱捕获。用（E）-香叶基丙酮诱捕的陷阱没有捕获到大量甲虫。
