University of Pennsylvania Park-An international team of researchers said that Asian long-horned beetle females lay gender-specific pheromone traces on the surface of the tree to attract males to their location. This discovery may lead to the development of a tool to manage this invasive pest, which affects approximately 25 tree species in the United States.
Kelly Hoover, professor of entomology at Penn State University, said: “Thanks to Asian long-horned beetles, thousands of hardwood trees have been cut down in New York, Ohio, and Massachusetts, most of which are maple.” “We discovered this. Pheromone produced by females of the species can be used to control pests.”
The researchers isolated and identified four chemicals from the traces of the original and mating Asian long-horned beetles (Anoplophora glabripennis), none of which were found in the traces of the males. They found that the pheromone trail contains two major components-2-methyldocosane and (Z)-9-triecosene-and two minor components-(Z)-9-pentatriene and ( Z)-7-pentatriene. The research team also found that each footprint sample contained all four of these chemical components, although the proportions and quantities will vary depending on whether the female is a virgin or mated and the age of the female.
We found that primitive women would not start to produce sufficient amounts of the correct pheromone mixture-that is, the correct ratio of the four chemicals to each other-until they are about 20 days old, which corresponds to when they are fertile,” Hoover said “After the female emerges from the tree of Phyllostachys, it takes about two weeks to feed on the branches and leaves before laying eggs.
Researchers have found that when females produce the proper proportion and amount of pheromone and deposit them on the surface they walk on, indicating that they are fertile, males will come.
Hoover said: “The interesting thing is that although pheromone attracts men, it repels virgins.” “This may be a mechanism to help women avoid competing for partners.”
In addition, the researchers learned that sexually mature women will continue to produce tail pheromone after mating, which they believe is beneficial to both men and women. According to scientists, by continuing to produce pheromones after mating, females can induce the same male to mate again, or induce other males to mate with them.
Melody Keener, a research entomologist at the Northern Research Station of the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, said: “Females will benefit from multiple mating, and they may also benefit from mating with a male for a long time because these behaviors increase. The possibility of its eggs being fertile.”
In contrast, a man benefits from ensuring that only his sperm is used to fertilize a woman’s egg, so that only his genes are passed on to the next generation.
Hoover said: “Now, we have more information about a series of complex behaviors, as well as chemical and visual cues and signals that help mates locate and help males find females again on the tree to protect them from others. Violation by males.”.
Zhang Aijun, a research chemist at the US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Invasive Insect Biological Control and Behavior Laboratory, said that all four wake pheromone components have been synthesized and evaluated in laboratory bioassays了 its behavioral activity. Synthetic trace pheromone may be useful in dealing with invasive beetles in the field. Zhang separated, identified and synthesized the pheromone.
Hoover said: “The form of synthetic pheromone may be used in combination with insect-pathogenic fungi, and Ann Hajek is studying it at Cornell University.” “This fungus can be sprayed. On trees, when beetles walk on them, they will absorb and infect and kill fungi. By applying the pheromones that female beetles use to attract males, we can induce male beetles to kill them. Lethal fungicides instead of Women who get rich.”
The team plans to further study by trying to determine where the estrogen is produced in the human body, how the male can detect the pheromone, how long the pheromone can still be detected on the tree, and whether it is possible to mediate other behaviors in other ways. The pheromone. These chemicals.
The United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Forest Service; Alphawood Foundation; Horticultural Research Institute supported this research.
Other authors of the paper include Maya Nehme of Lebanon University; Peter Meng, a graduate student in entomology at Pennsylvania State University; and Wang Shifa of Nanjing Forestry University.
The Asian longhorn beetle is native to Asia and is responsible for the large loss of high-value shade and woody tree species. In the range introduced in the United States, it prefers maples.
Female Asian longhorn beetles can benefit from multiple mating or mating with a male for a long time, because these behaviors increase the likelihood of their eggs being fertile.