Evidence for contact sex recognition pheromone of the Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae).

Field observations of the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) mating behavior in China suggested that a female-produced contact pheromone was almost certainly involved in sex recognition. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of A. glabripennis adults' whole body cuticular extracts indicates that a series of long-chain hydrocarbons comprise the cuticular waxes of both sexes. Although for the most part the GC profiles are similar for the two sexes, five monounsaturated compounds were consistently more abundant in samples from females than in those from males. These compounds were identified as (Z)-9-tricosene, (Z)-9-pentacosene, (Z)-7-pentacosene, (Z)-9-heptacosene, and (Z)-7-heptacosene in the approximate ratio of 1:2:2:8:1, respectively. Antennal and palpi contact to a polypropylene micro-centrifuge tube coated with a synthetic mixture of the five compounds stimulated copulatory behavior in males.