Reproduction in the California Red Scale, Aonidiella aurantii (Homoptera: Diaspididae). I. Discovery and Extraction of a Female Sex Pheromone1,2

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A pheromone (or pheromones) that attracts males and elicits copulatory behavior is present in sexually mature females of the California red scale, Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell). Its release is not continuous and may be controlled. It was extracted from females in several organic solvents. An ether extract absorbed into drops of paraffin (dummy females) was attractive to males for several hours, longer than when the extract was absorbed by filter paper. Male response to the pheromone preparations was similar to that toward intact females. Three preparations that attracted the most males were comparable in activity: a condensate accumulated in a Dewar flask by aeration of live females and concentrated to contain 7200 female-day equivalents; an ether extract of the condensate containing 360 female-day equivalents; and an ether extract of homogenized mature females containing 100 female equivalents. An ascending thin-layer chromatogram of an ether extract developed with n-hexane-diethyl ether-ethanol contained a spot with an Rt of 0.9 that was attractive to males and elicited copulatory behavior.

This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit: