Department of Entomology and WM Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Feb 21;109(8):E490-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1111748109. Epub 2011 Dec 19.
Wood cockroaches in the genus Parcoblatta, comprising 12 species endemic to North America, are highly abundant in southeastern pine forests and represent an important prey of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, Picoides borealis. The broad wood cockroach, Parcoblatta lata, is among the largest and most abundant of the wood cockroaches, constituting >50% of the biomass of the woodpecker's diet. Because reproduction in red-cockaded woodpeckers is affected dramatically by seasonal and spatial changes in arthropod availability, monitoring P. lata populations could serve as a useful index of habitat suitability for woodpecker conservation and forest management efforts. Female P. lata emit a volatile, long-distance sex pheromone, which, once identified and synthesized, could be deployed for monitoring cockroach populations. We describe here the identification, synthesis, and confirmation of the chemical structure of this pheromone as (4Z,11Z)-oxacyclotrideca-4,11-dien-2-one [= (3Z,10Z)-dodecadienolide; herein referred to as "parcoblattalactone"]. This macrocyclic lactone is a previously unidentified natural product and a previously unknown pheromonal structure for cockroaches, highlighting the great chemical diversity that characterizes olfactory communication in cockroaches: Each long-range sex pheromone identified to date from different genera belongs to a different chemical class. Parcoblattalactone was biologically active in electrophysiological assays and attracted not only P. lata but also several other Parcoblatta species in pine forests, underscoring its utility in monitoring several endemic wood cockroach species in red-cockaded woodpecker habitats.
阔木蟑螂属（Parcoblatta）中的 12 个物种是北美的特有种，它们在东南松林中非常丰富，是濒危红顶啄木鸟（Picoides borealis）的重要猎物。宽木蟑螂（Parcoblatta lata）是木蟑螂中最大和最丰富的物种之一，构成了啄木鸟食物生物量的>50%。由于红顶啄木鸟的繁殖受到节肢动物可用性的季节性和空间变化的极大影响，监测 P. lata 种群可以作为评估栖息地适宜性的有用指标，以促进啄木鸟保护和森林管理工作。雌性 P. lata 会释放一种挥发性的长距离性信息素，一旦被识别和合成，就可以用于监测蟑螂种群。我们在这里描述了这种信息素的鉴定、合成和化学结构的确认，它是（4Z，11Z）-氧杂环十三烷-4,11-二烯-2-酮[=（3Z，10Z）-十二碳二烯内酯；以下简称“parcoblattalactone”]。这种大环内酯是一种以前未被识别的天然产物，也是蟑螂以前未知的信息素结构，突出了蟑螂嗅觉通讯的巨大化学多样性：迄今为止，从不同属鉴定出的每种长距离性信息素都属于不同的化学类别。Parcoblattalactone 在电生理测定中具有生物活性，不仅吸引了 P. lata，还吸引了松林中的其他几种 Parcoblatta 物种，这突显了它在监测红顶啄木鸟栖息地中几种特有木蟑螂物种的实用性。
