Sexual communication in castniid moths: Males mark their territories and appear to bear all chemical burden.

Castniid moths (Lepidoptera: Castniidae) display a butterfly-like reproductive behavior, i.e., they use visual stimuli for mate location and females have apparently lost their pheromone glands in an evolutionary context. In this paper we report for the first time the identification of three new comp...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Carmen Quero, Victor Sarto I Monteys, Gloria Rosell, Marc Puigmartí, Angel Guerrero
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0171166&type=printable
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849765015471521792
author Carmen Quero
Victor Sarto I Monteys
Gloria Rosell
Marc Puigmartí
Angel Guerrero
author_facet Carmen Quero
Victor Sarto I Monteys
Gloria Rosell
Marc Puigmartí
Angel Guerrero
author_sort Carmen Quero
collection DOAJ
description Castniid moths (Lepidoptera: Castniidae) display a butterfly-like reproductive behavior, i.e., they use visual stimuli for mate location and females have apparently lost their pheromone glands in an evolutionary context. In this paper we report for the first time the identification of three new compounds, namely n-octadecyl acetate, (Z)-9-octadecenyl acetate and (E,Z)-2,13-octadecadienyl acetate, in males of the Castniid Palm Borer, Paysandisia archon, which could be involved in its short-range courtship behavior, and also shed light on recent controversies on the sexual behavior of the species. The compounds are produced in a ring-shaped gland of the male terminalia and have occasionally been detected in very minor amounts (ng) in ovipositor extracts of females, but only while mating or just after copulation. We also report that males use the already known (E,Z)-2,13-octadecadienol to mark their territory by rubbing their midlegs against the upper side of nearby leaves, especially palm leaves. This compound, produced in large amounts, is mostly concentrated in the midleg basitarsi and its maximum production is detected on the sexually mature 1-day-old specimens. In addition, analysis of male wings extracts confirms the presence of Z,E and E,E-farnesals, which are mostly produced in the median band of hindwings of 48-53 h-old insects. The biological significance of farnesals in this species is unknown. Our results point out that the chemical communication of P. archon relies mostly on males, which appear to bear all chemical burden in this respect.
format Article
id doaj-art-7774e92d0e814d2dac68a6f48533c4af
institution DOAJ
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2017-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-7774e92d0e814d2dac68a6f48533c4af2025-08-20T03:04:58ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-01122e017116610.1371/journal.pone.0171166Sexual communication in castniid moths: Males mark their territories and appear to bear all chemical burden.Carmen QueroVictor Sarto I MonteysGloria RosellMarc PuigmartíAngel GuerreroCastniid moths (Lepidoptera: Castniidae) display a butterfly-like reproductive behavior, i.e., they use visual stimuli for mate location and females have apparently lost their pheromone glands in an evolutionary context. In this paper we report for the first time the identification of three new compounds, namely n-octadecyl acetate, (Z)-9-octadecenyl acetate and (E,Z)-2,13-octadecadienyl acetate, in males of the Castniid Palm Borer, Paysandisia archon, which could be involved in its short-range courtship behavior, and also shed light on recent controversies on the sexual behavior of the species. The compounds are produced in a ring-shaped gland of the male terminalia and have occasionally been detected in very minor amounts (ng) in ovipositor extracts of females, but only while mating or just after copulation. We also report that males use the already known (E,Z)-2,13-octadecadienol to mark their territory by rubbing their midlegs against the upper side of nearby leaves, especially palm leaves. This compound, produced in large amounts, is mostly concentrated in the midleg basitarsi and its maximum production is detected on the sexually mature 1-day-old specimens. In addition, analysis of male wings extracts confirms the presence of Z,E and E,E-farnesals, which are mostly produced in the median band of hindwings of 48-53 h-old insects. The biological significance of farnesals in this species is unknown. Our results point out that the chemical communication of P. archon relies mostly on males, which appear to bear all chemical burden in this respect.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0171166&type=printable
spellingShingle Carmen Quero
Victor Sarto I Monteys
Gloria Rosell
Marc Puigmartí
Angel Guerrero
Sexual communication in castniid moths: Males mark their territories and appear to bear all chemical burden.
PLoS ONE
title Sexual communication in castniid moths: Males mark their territories and appear to bear all chemical burden.
title_full Sexual communication in castniid moths: Males mark their territories and appear to bear all chemical burden.
title_fullStr Sexual communication in castniid moths: Males mark their territories and appear to bear all chemical burden.
title_full_unstemmed Sexual communication in castniid moths: Males mark their territories and appear to bear all chemical burden.
title_short Sexual communication in castniid moths: Males mark their territories and appear to bear all chemical burden.
title_sort sexual communication in castniid moths males mark their territories and appear to bear all chemical burden
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0171166&type=printable
work_keys_str_mv AT carmenquero sexualcommunicationincastniidmothsmalesmarktheirterritoriesandappeartobearallchemicalburden
AT victorsartoimonteys sexualcommunicationincastniidmothsmalesmarktheirterritoriesandappeartobearallchemicalburden
AT gloriarosell sexualcommunicationincastniidmothsmalesmarktheirterritoriesandappeartobearallchemicalburden
AT marcpuigmarti sexualcommunicationincastniidmothsmalesmarktheirterritoriesandappeartobearallchemicalburden
AT angelguerrero sexualcommunicationincastniidmothsmalesmarktheirterritoriesandappeartobearallchemicalburden