‘Pheromone-like’ compounds in the cuticle of aquatic Chironomus larva

Abstract

Chironomid midges are the most commonly found dipteran insects in all types of aquatic ecosystems. Cuticular extract was bio-assayed, and it exhibited enhanced attraction to the larvae. Therefore, it was subsequently analysed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Two compounds were identified as farnesol and farnesene. Bioassay of farnesol indicated its attractive properties. The components present in the cuticular extract can, therefore, be considered as pheromone-like compounds.

Keywords:

• Chironomus
• Pheromone
• Cuticular extract
• GC-MS
• Farnesol

Acknowledgements

We thank Megha S. Nivsarkar and C. Joglekar, for their assistance in the initial part of the project, especially for the standardization of chemical extraction procedures with different solvents. One of the authors (BBN) acknowledges infrastructural facilities obtained from Department of Zoology (UGC-CAS and DST-FIST), University of Pune. Critical comments by Dr A. M. Diwan are gratefully acknowledged. We thank Mr Shashikant Arya, for his assistance in designing the illustrations. Thanks are due to Dr Shashi Chiplonkar, for the statistical analyses.