AN ECOLOGICAL ROLE OF VOLATILES PRODUCED BY LASIODIPLODIA-THEOBROMAE

One function of the volatiles produced by the fungus Lasiodiplodia the obromae was supposed to be ecological, as an insect attractant, which could get the attracted insects to be a vector of the fungal spores. L . theobromae, a mellein-producing fungus, was isolated from the outer surface of a danaid butterfly, Idea leuconoe. Ingestion by the butterf ly of mellein on some plant tissues that contained mellein from 0.3 to 11 ppm was observed in the field and also in an insectarium. All thes e plant tissues were infected with L. theobromae, therefore, the melle in was concluded to be produced by the fungi, These observation sugges ts the presence of a kind of mutualistic relation between idea leucono e and L. theobromae associated with mellein, which is a suspected sex pheromone of the butterfly, accumulated in its hairpencil.