Effect of rearing conditions on production of sternal gland secretion, and identification of minor components in the sternal gland secretion of the predatory stink bug Eocanthecona furcellata.

Production of the male specific compound, 6,10,13-trimethyltetradecyl isovalerate by the predatory stink bug Eocanthecona furcellata (Wolff) was dramatically affected by rearing conditions. Male bugs kept isolated after eclosion produced an average of 1,948 ng of 6,10,13-trimethyltetradecyl isovalerate per bug, whereas male bugs reared in groups of 5-8 bugs produced an average of only 4 ng of 6,10,13-trimethyltetradecyl isovalerate per bug. Same-sex or mixed-sex pairs of bugs produced less than 50 ng per bug. Male bugs kept isolated for 1 wk and then grouped for 1 wk produced 3 ng of 6,10,13-trimethyltetradecyl isovalerate per bug, whereas male bugs grouped first and then isolated produced 135 ng of 6,10,13-trimethyltetradecyl isovalerate. A total of 11 minor components in relative amounts of less than 1% of the major 6,10,13-trimethyltetradecyl isovalerate were found in the sternal gland secretion. These included 6,10,13-trimethyltetradecanol, acetate, propionate, and butyrate esters of 6,10,13-trimethyltetradecanol, and isovalerate or valerate esters of homologs of 6,10,13-trimethyltetradecanol.