Field screening of known pheromone components of longhorned beetles in the subfamily Cerambycinae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in Hungary.

Five compounds known to be pheromone components of longhorned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in the subfamily Cerambycinae were field-tested as attractants and possible pheromones for the cerambycid fauna of Hungary. Nine cerambycid species were caught in baited traps. Large numbers of both sexes of the cerambycine species Molorchus umbellatarum Schreb. were caught in traps baited with (2R*,3S*)-octanediol, while the diastereomeric (2R*,3R*)-octanediol was to some extent attractive as well. This is the first report on an aggregation attractant and a likely pheromone for a species in the cerambycine tribe Molorchini. The results of our study support the hypothesis that the diol/hydroxyketone pheromone motif is characteristic of and highly conserved within the subfamily Cerambycinae. Intraspecific chemical communication is summarized for the subfamily Cerambycinae, and possible links between taxonomy, insect behaviour, and pheromone structures are described.