Defensive steroids from a carrion beetle (Silpha americana) |
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Authors: | J. Meinwald B. Roach K. Hicks D. Alsop T. Eisner |
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Affiliation: | (1) Department of Chemistry and Section of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, 14853 Ithaca, New York, USA;(2) Present address: Unit 7834-233-2, Upjohn Company, 49001 Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA;(3) Present address: Department of Biology, Queens College, 11367 Flushing, New York, USA |
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Abstract: | Summary The defensive anal effluent discharged bySilpha americana in response to disturbance contains a mixture of steroids stemming from a glandular annex of the rectum. The compounds have been characterized as 15-hydroxyprogesterone (1, principal component), 5-pregnan-15-ol-3, 20-dione (2), 5-pregnan-3, 15-diol-20-one (3), 5-pregnan-7, 15-diol-3,20-dione (4), 5-pregnan-3, 7, 15-triol-20-one (5), 5-pregnan-16-ol-3,20-dione (6), and 5-pregnan-3, 16-diol-20-one (7), none previously found in insects. Bioassays with jumping spiders showed compounds1 and6 to be feeding deterrents at the 1 g level.Paper No. 78 of the series: Defense Mechanisms of Arthropods. Study supported by NIH (Grants AI-02908, AI-12020). We thank Maura Malarcher and Maria Eisner for excellent technical help, and the Squibb Institute of Medical Research for samples of authentic reference compounds. |
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Keywords: | Coleoptera chemical defense steroids pregnanes isoprenoids |
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