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Alcohol Contributes to Attraction of Heliothis (= Chloridea) virescens Males to Females

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Abstract

Female-emitted volatile sex pheromones in most moths are composed of biosynthetically related blends of fatty acid derivatives, such as aldehydes, acetate esters and alcohols. In many moths, as in the noctuid Heliothis (Chloridea) virescens, the pheromone gland contains alcohols (e.g., (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-ol, hereafter Z11–16:OH) that may serve dual functions as pheromone components as well as precursors of other pheromone components. The relative importance of Z11–16:OH to male attraction in H. virescens has been controversial. It occurs in the pheromone gland in relatively large amounts, but several studies could neither detect Z11–16:OH in gland emissions nor attribute any conspecific behavioral function to it in flight- tunnel assays. Trapping assays in the field, however, have more consistently documented that the addition of Z11–16:OH increased trap catch. Using a short section of thick film megabore column, in combination with derivatization and GC-CI-SIM-MS, we determined that Z11–16:OH is emitted from the sex pheromone gland during calling. Field trapping studies demonstrated that trap catch increased when Z11–16:OH was added to a 2-component minimal blend and to a 6-component blend. Behavioral observations in the field confirmed that more males responded to a pheromone blend that contained a low blend ratio of Z11–16:OH, but ≥5% Z11–16:OH depressed both male behavior and trap catch. We conclude that Z11–16:OH should be considered a component of the sex pheromone of H. virescens females.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Cathy Herring (Central Crops Research Station, Clayton, NC) for maintenance of the field plots. This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation (award IOS-1456973), the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO-ALW, award 822.01.012 and ALWOP 2015.075), the W.M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, the Max Planck Society, and the Blanton J. Whitmire Endowment at North Carolina State University. BA’s visit to North Carolina State University was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (EEBB-C-14-00465).

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Author notes

  1. Satoshi Nojima

    Present address: Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan

  2. Jeremy J. Heath

    Present address: Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

  3. Byrappa Ammagarahalli

    Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45221, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park, 904, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Astrid T. Groot, Michiel van Wijk & Alice Claβen

  2. Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27695, USA

    Satoshi Nojima, Jeremy J. Heath, Richard G. Santangelo & Coby Schal

  3. Department of Crop and Forest Sciences, University of Lleida, Av. Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198, Lleida, Spain

    Byrappa Ammagarahalli

  4. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Areawide Pest Management Research Unit, 2771 F and B Road, College Station, TX, 77845, USA

    Juan Lopez

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  1. Astrid T. Groot
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Correspondence to Astrid T. Groot or Coby Schal.

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Astrid T. Groot and Satoshi Nojima shared co-first authorship.

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Groot, A.T., Nojima, S., Heath, J.J. et al. Alcohol Contributes to Attraction of Heliothis (= Chloridea) virescens Males to Females. J Chem Ecol 44, 621–630 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-018-0995-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-018-0995-4

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