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Role of Volatile Semiochemicals in the Host and Mate Location Behavior of Mallodon dasystomus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

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Abstract

Little is known of the role semiochemicals play in the mating systems of longhorned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in the primitive subfamily Prioninae. Mallodon dasystomus (Say), the hardwood stump borer, is a widely distributed prionine native to the southern US. Preferred hosts of M. dasystomus include oak, sweetgum, sugarberry and hackberry; although they also colonize a variety of other hardwoods. Here, we study the mate location behavior of M. dasystomus by testing the hypotheses that the sexes are mutually attracted to volatiles emanating from the larval host and that females release a volatile pheromone that is attractive to males alone. In a Y-tube olfactometer, male and female M. dasystomus responded to volatiles from host material (i.e., sweetgum and sugarberry). However, only males responded to females in the olfactometer, suggesting that females release a volatile sex pheromone. In choice experiments conducted in a greenhouse, we determined that both males and females prefer host over non-host material. In further bioassays in the greenhouse, males chose host material containing a live female over that containing a live male or host material alone. These findings are further evidence of the critical role host volatiles and pheromones play in mating systems of longhorned beetles.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Annie Spikes for her contributions to the early phases of this work and Corey Wilkins for assistance in the field at the USDA Forest Service CBHR. We are grateful to Purdue University Department of Entomology and the USDA Forest Service (agreement no. 08-JV-11330127-076) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant SRS-06-IA-11330127-189, FWS Agreement # 401816H022 for financial support. We thank David Linden and Becky Rosamond for logistical support while we collected infested material and beetles at Yazoo and Dahomey National Wildlife Refuges respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, Purdue University, 901 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Matthew A. Paschen & Matthew D. Ginzel

  2. USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Stoneville, MS, 38776, USA

    Nathan M. Schiff

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  1. Matthew A. Paschen
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  2. Nathan M. Schiff
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Correspondence to Matthew D. Ginzel.

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Paschen, M.A., Schiff, N.M. & Ginzel, M.D. Role of Volatile Semiochemicals in the Host and Mate Location Behavior of Mallodon dasystomus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). J Insect Behav 25, 569–577 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-012-9321-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-012-9321-0

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