SEMIOCHEMICALS OF THE SCARABAEINAE .4. IDENTIFICATION OF AN ATTRACTANT FOR THE DUNG BEETLE PACHYLOMERUS-FEMORALIS IN THE ABDOMINAL SECRETION OF THE DUNG BEETLE KHEPER-LAMARCKI
Bv. Burger et al., SEMIOCHEMICALS OF THE SCARABAEINAE .4. IDENTIFICATION OF AN ATTRACTANT FOR THE DUNG BEETLE PACHYLOMERUS-FEMORALIS IN THE ABDOMINAL SECRETION OF THE DUNG BEETLE KHEPER-LAMARCKI, Zeitschrift fur Naturforschung. C, A journal of biosciences, 50(9-10), 1995, pp. 675-680
Both sexes of the dung beetle Pachylomerus femoralis were observed to
be attracted to the male dung beetle Kheper lamarcki when it exhibited
typical calling behaviour including the release of a white flocculent
sex-attracting secretion. Using GC-MS analysis and gas chromatography
with electroantennographic (EAD) and flame ionization detection (FID)
in parallel, methyl and ethyl propanoate, methyl and ethyl butanoate,
methyl and ethyl pentanoate, and methyl and ethyl 4-pentenoate were i
dentified as the constituents of the secretion that elicited electroan
tennographic responses in the antennae of male and female P. femoralis
. In field tests, mixtures of these compounds were found to be about a
s attractive as horse dung. These esters appear to constitute an attra
ctant for Ii femoralis, enabling this species which does not form ball
s, to detect and utilize dung balls formed by K. lamarcki. P. femorali
s has been observed to exploit food types as diverse as dung from rhin
oceros and primates. It is therefore, possible that, on the other hand
, this species utilizes different kairomones to detect various types o
f dung and that the coincidental presence of some or all of the compon
ents of one of these kairomones in the abdominal secretion of K. lamar
cki is responsible for its attraction to calling K. lamarcki males.