Host tree unsuitability recognized by pine shoot beetles in flight

Summary In spring, the landing rate of flying European pine shoot beetles,Tomicus piniperda L., on injured Scots pine diminishes as colonization continues. This is due to olfactory cues that indicate progressive host degradation. Verbenone was shown to play a role in the beetle's recognition of this unsuitability of a formerly suitable host, since the compound was increasingly released from colonized tree sections as they aged, but not from uninfested sections. Also, the release of verbenone at natural rates in the forest inhibited the attraction of beetles to host monoterpenes.     

Avoidance of competition by spruce bark beetles,Ips typographus andPityogenes chalcographus

Bark beetles,Ips typographus andPityogenes chalcographus, attracted by synthetic or natural pheromone to Norway spruce logs,Picea abies, preferred to colonize uninfested logs rather than logs occupied by these beetles, probably as a means of avoiding intra-and interspecific competition. The aggregation pheromone components ofP. chalcographus, chalcogran and methyl (E, Z)-2,4-decadienoate, inhibited the attraction response ofI. typographus to its pheromone components (methyl butenol andcis-verbenol), while the converse was not true. However, verbenone released from colonized bark inhibited pheromonal response ofP. chalcographus.     

动物化学通讯及其功能与机制*

化学通讯在动物的社群行为中占有重要地位,它对于维系社会等级,传递发情信息,个体识别、亲缘识别等具有重要作用。自第一种外激素被发现,迄今已经整整50年,有关化学通讯功能及其机制的研究也取得了很大的进展,并呈现出一些新的特点。本文回顾了化学通讯的研究进展,对外激素的化学组成和释放、其感受机制、功能和生理及遗传调节等进行了总结,并对未来的研究趋势和热点问题进行了讨论。