Defensive secretions of New Zealand tenebrionids V. Presence of methyl ketones inUloma tenebrionoides (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae).

The defensive secretion ofUloma tenebrionoides (White, 1846) contains benzoquinone, 2-methylbenzoquinone (toluquinone), and 2-ethylben-zoquinone as in other tenebrionids, together with 2-methoxyphenol, pentadecene, heptadecene, 2-pentanone, 2-pentadecanone, 2-heptadecanone, heptadec-10-en-2-one and (Z)-nonadec-10-en-2-one. The latter four methyl ketones have not previously been identified in tenebrionid beetles, and the unsaturated ketones are novel arthropod chemicals.