Semiochemicals associated with the reproductive behavior of Cyclocephala paraguayensis Arrow

• Ano de defesa: 2021
• Autor(a) principal: Favaris, Arodí Prado
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Instituição de defesa: Biblioteca Digitais de Teses e Dissertações da USP
• Palavras-chave em Português: Anthophilous beetles; Besouros antófilos; Chemical ecology; Dynastinae; Ecologia química
• Link de acesso: https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/11/11146/tde-08102021-085427/

Chemical communication between flowers and Cyclocephalini beetles is a strong component of their ecological interactions. The floral odors attract Cyclocephalini beetles to the flowers, where they find mating opportunity, food resources, and shelter. Given the floral scent has gathered both male and female adults on flowers, it has been suggested the long-distance sex pheromone is not crucial for the reproduction of Cyclocephalini beetles. In this work, we report Cyclocephala Paraguayensis Arrow visiting flowers of Lagenaria siceraria and Brugmansia suaveolens (Solanaceae). Floral scents were identified, and the compounds nerolidol from both plants, as well as methyl benzoate from B. suaveolens, were demonstrated to be potential attractants to C. paraguayensis. Besides, nerolidol even as a minor constituent in B. suaveolens floral odor, when combined with methyl benzoate, contributed to a synergic effect on the attraction of C. paraguayensis. Although the two floral compounds being efficient on the attraction of C. paraguayensis conspecifics, the volatiles emitted by males qualitatively differed from the female ones, suggesting a possible intraspecific mechanism for chemical communication. Males released a prominent compound, preliminarily identified as a puleganic acid. Although this identification still needs biological confirmation, our findings raised future directions for the hypothesis of sex pheromone production.