Male-specific conversion of the host plant compound, myrcene, to the pheromone, (+)-ipsdienol, in the bark beetle,Dendroctonus brevicomis

Abstract

When both sexes of the bark beetle,Dendroctonus brevicomis LeConte, were exposed to vapors of myrcene from ponderosa pine, only the male produced (+)-ipsdienol. In the field, racemic ipsdienol significantly reduced the attraction of both sexes in flight to a mixture of myrcene and the aggregation pheromones,exo-brevicomin and frontalin. This suggests that ipsdienol may be involved in regulating colonization density ofD. brevicomis. The implications of the biosynthesis of various enantiomers of ipsdienol byD. brevicomis and the cohabitating bark beetles,Ips paraconfusus andI. pini, in relation to their behavioral responses are discussed in regard to reducing interspecific competition.