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Reinvestigation of the Sex Pheromone of the Wild Silkmoth Bombyx mandarina: The Effects of Bombykal and Bombykyl Acetate

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Abstract

Sex pheromone investigations of the domesticated silkmoth, Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae), helped elucidate the molecular and physiological fundamentals of chemical communication in moths, yet little is known about pheromone evolution in bombycid species. Therefore, we reexamined the sex pheromone communication in the wild silkmoth, Bombyx mandarina, which is considered ancestral to B. mori. Our investigations revealed that (a) B. mandarina females produce (E,Z)-10,12-hexadecadienol (bombykol), but not (E,Z)-10,12-hexadecadienal (bombykal) or (E,Z)-10,12-hexadecadienyl acetate (bombykyl acetate), which are pheromone components in other bombycid moths; (b) antennae of male B. mandarina respond strongly to bombykol as well as to bombykal and bombykyl acetate; and (c) bombykal and bombykyl acetate strongly inhibit attraction of B. mandarina males to bombykol in the field. The present study clarifies the evolution of pheromone communication in bombycid moths.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Namiki, T. Sakurai, and H. Mitsuno for helpful discussions; S. Matsuyama (Tsukuba University) and R. Kanzaki (University of Tokyo) for providing the bombykol standard; H. Hiyama for assisting with the field experiments in Fuchu; and M. Kawamoto and M. Suzuki for clerical assistance. We also thank members of the Institute for Sustainable Agro-ecosystem Services of the University of Tokyo for the management of mulberry fields in Tanashi. This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific research (No. 22128004 to T.D., S.K., and T. Shimada; No. 21248006 to T.D., and T. Shimada; No. 23688008 to T.D.; and No. 23248008 to Y.I.) from MEXT/JSPS, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Owashi 1-2, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8634, Japan

    Takaaki Daimon & Tetsuro Shinoda

  2. Department of Agricultural and Environmental Biology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Takaaki Daimon, Takeshi Fujii, Tsuguru Fujii, Susumu Katsuma, Toru Shimada & Yukio Ishikawa

  3. Department of Biological Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183-8509, Japan

    Takeshi Yokoyama

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  1. Takaaki Daimon
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  2. Takeshi Fujii
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  3. Tsuguru Fujii
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  4. Takeshi Yokoyama
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  5. Susumu Katsuma
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  7. Toru Shimada
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  8. Yukio Ishikawa
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Correspondence to Takaaki Daimon.

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Daimon, T., Fujii, T., Fujii, T. et al. Reinvestigation of the Sex Pheromone of the Wild Silkmoth Bombyx mandarina: The Effects of Bombykal and Bombykyl Acetate. J Chem Ecol 38, 1031–1035 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-012-0164-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-012-0164-0

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