Abstract
The sex pheromones of a number of aphids have been shown to consist of two terpenoids, nepetalactol and nepetalactone (Dawson et al., 1987). The ratios of these two components differ between the various species and some species specificity has been demonstrated, although males are attracted to a range of ratios (Hardie et al.,1990). However, unless aphid males are able to disciminate between small differences in the ratios, it is uncertain whether this ratio alone can account for species-specific mate recognition. One factor that might increase the specificity of the signal is the odour of the host plant on which mating takes place.
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References
Dawson, G.W., D.C. Griffiths, N.F. Janes, A. Mudd, J.A. Pickett, L.J. Wadhams & C.M. Woodcock (1987). Identification of an aphid sex pheromone. Nature 325: 614–616.
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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Guldemond, J.A., Dixon, A.F.G., Pickett, J.A., Wadhams, L.J., Woodcock, C.M. (1992). The role of host-plant odour and sex pheromones in mate recognition in the aphid Cryptomyzus . In: Menken, S.B.J., Visser, J.H., Harrewijn, P. (eds) Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Insect-Plant Relationships. Series Entomologica, vol 49. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1654-1_36
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1654-1_36
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