Species-specific, two-component, volatile signals in two sympatric ant-lion species:Synclysis baetica andAcanthaclisis occitanica (Neuroptera, Myrmeleontidae)

G Bergström; A B Wassgren; H E Högberg; E Hedenström; A Hefetz; D Simon; T Ohlsson; J Löfqvist

doi:10.1007/BF00980072

Species-specific, two-component, volatile signals in two sympatric ant-lion species:Synclysis baetica andAcanthaclisis occitanica (Neuroptera, Myrmeleontidae)

J Chem Ecol. 1992 Jul;18(7):1177-88. doi: 10.1007/BF00980072.

Authors

G Bergström¹, A B Wassgren, H E Högberg, E Hedenström, A Hefetz, D Simon, T Ohlsson, J Löfqvist

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemical Ecology, University of Göteborg, Reutersgatan 2 C, S-413 20, Göteborg, Sweden.

PMID: 24254157
DOI: 10.1007/BF00980072

Abstract

The thoracic glands of males in two ant-lion speciesSynclysis baetica andAcanthaclisis occitanica, which occur sympatrically in Israel, were found to contain a volatile secretion with two-component blends of nerol oxide and (R,Z)-6-tridecen-2-ol (approx 1∶5) and nerol oxide and 10-homonerol oxide (approx. 1∶2), respectively. Chemical analyses were performed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, chiral gas chromatography, and ozonolysis, and the proposed structures were confirmed by synthesis. The species-specific, few-component volatile signals are thought to function as a reproductive isolation mechanism between the two sympatric species. Biochemical relationships between the nerol derivatives and between the unsaturated secondary alcohols are discussed.