Pergamon 0022-1910(94)00038-7 J. lnsecr zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQ Physiol. Vol. 40, No. 9, pp. 781-787, 1994 Copyright (0 1994 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0022-1910/94 $7.00 + 0.00 Isolation and Identification of (32,62,8E)-3,6,8- Dodecatrien- l-01 in zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Reticulitermes santonensis Feytaud (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae): Roles in Worker Trail-following and in Alate Sex-attraction Behavior NATHALIE LADUGUIE,* ALAIN ROBERT,* ODILE BONNARD,* FLORENT VIEAU,? JEAN-LUC LE QUERE,$ ETIENNE SEMON,f CHRISTIAN BORDEREAU* zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVU Received 10 December 1993; revised 28 February 1994 (32,6Z,8E)-3,6,8-Dodecatrien-l-01 was isolated and identified by gas chromatography-mass spec- trometry in workers and alates of zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Reticulitermes santonensis Feytaud (Isoptera, Rhinotenuitidae). This unsaturated alcohol is about 10 times more abundant in alates than in workers. Synthetic (3Z,6Z,8E)-3,6,8-dodecatrien-l-o1 is highly active in eliciting trail-following in workers, and the threshold concentration is about 0.1 pg/cm trail. In alates, it elicits trail-following in both sexes at low concentration and sex attraction in male alates at high concentrations. It is suggested that (3Z,6Z,SE)-3,6,8-dodecatrien-l-01 is the main component of the trail-following pheromone as well as the sex pheromone in Reticulitermes santonensis. (3Z,6Z,8E)-3,6.8-Dodecatrien-l-o1 Trail-following pheromone Sex pheromone Reticulitermes santonensis Termites INTRODUCTION 4,8,12-trimethylcyclotetra-4,8,12-trien (cembrene A) in Semiochemicals are extremely important in termite societies. They are involved in the maintenance of social homeostasis, communication during sex behavior, and various social activities. Knowledge of these chemical mediators is essential for understanding how a termite society functions and for developing new control methods for these insects. However, due to the very small quantities of active substances, only a few termite pheromones have been chemically identified. The trail-following pheromones have especially been studied in termites, but until now, only two main components might be considered as trail-following pheromones: (3Z,6Z,8E)-3,6,8-dodecatrien-l-01 (DTE- OH) in several species of Rhinotermitidae (Matsumura et al., 1968, 1969; Honda et al., 1975; Yamaoka et al., 1987; Tokoro et al., 1989) and (E,E,E)-isoprophenyl- *Universiti de Bourgogne, Zoologie, UA CNRS 674, 6 Bd Gabriel, different species of Nasutitermitinae (Moore, 1966; Birch et al., 1972; McDowell and 0100, 1984). These com- pounds showed a very high biological activity and they were able to elicit trail-following at a concentration of 0.1 to 1 pg/cm. In Reticulitermes santonensis (Rhinoter- mitidae), Ritter and Coenen-Saraber (1969) showed that workers were highly sensitive to DTE-OH and suggested that it might be the trail pheromone, although they failed to identify this alcohol in worker extracts. Only two studies have dealt with the chemistry of termite sex pheromones. Clement et al. (1989) described n-tetradecyl propionate as the main component of the sex pheromone in R.Javipes, but it required extraphys- iological concentrations (about 1 mg) for eliciting sex attraction. DTE-OH was identified as the major com- ponent of the sex pheromone in Pseudacanthotermes spiniger (Termitidae, Macrotermitinae) (Bordereau et aE., 1991). Clement (1982) showed that DTE-OH was verv attractive to the alates of R. santonensis. but he , 21000 Dijon, France. failed to detect unsaturated alcohol in these alates. tFacultt des Sciences, Lab. Endocrinologie des Insectes Sociaux, 2 rue de la Houssinitre, 44000 Nantes, France. Reported here for the first time is the presence of tINRA. Laboratoire de Recherches sur les Arbmes. 17 rue de Sullv. (DTE-OH) in workers and alates of R. santonensis. It is 21000 Dijon, France. _, suggested that this alcohol is used both as a trail-follow- 781