Identification of a Female-Produced Sex Attractant Pheromone of the Winter Firefly, Photinus corruscus Linnaeus (Coleoptera: Lampyridae).

ABSTRACT: Firefly flashes are well-known visual signals used by these insects to find, identify, and choose mates. However, many firefly species have lost the ability to produce light as adults. These "unlighted" species generally lack developed adult light organs, are diurnal rather than nocturnal, and are believed to use volatile pheromones acting over a distance to locate mates. While cuticular hydrocarbons, which may function in mate recognition at close range, have been examined for a handful of the over 2000 extant firefly species, no volatile pheromone has ever been identified. In this study, using coupled gas chromatography - electroantennographic detection, we detected a single female-emitted compound that elicited antennal responses from wild-caught male winter fireflies, Photinus corruscu

SUBMITTER: Lower SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10102081 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature