Decrypting Cryptic Click Beetle Species by Analysis of Sex Pheromones.

Abstract

Despite sex pheromones being highly species specific, their use as phylogenetic characters and a tool for the verification of species status are still relatively few compared to use of morphological and molecular characters. Earlier studies revealed that within the click beetle species Idolus picipennis, two types can be separated based on pheromone composition. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of pheromone from a third type of Idolus revealed the presence of geranyl hexanoate and geranyl octanoate in a ratio of ca. 1:9. Neryl esters and farnesyl esters, present in the glands of the other two species, are absent in this type. In field experiments, males of all three types were attracted specifically to synthetic mixtures of pheromone resembling their own females. This suggests that cross attraction among different types is unlikely and indicates that they are likely distinct species. Using the large numbers of male beetles caught in pheromone traps, morphological differences between the species were studied and an identification key derived. This study highlights the role of sex pheromones as a powerful tool in integrative taxonomy and systematics to study the phylogenetic position and evolution of taxa and to determine the taxonomic status of cryptic species.