There appears to be considerable parsimony within the cerambycid beetle subfamily Cerambycinae in relation to pheromone biosynthesis and use.Aggregation pheromones, produced by the males, usually conform to a structural motif of a six-carbon chain with hydroxyl or carbonyl groups at C2 and C3, and closely related species often share pheromone components, or even produce pheromones of identical composition.This parsimony in pheromone structure often results in multiple species being attracted simultaneously to trap pheromone lures consisting of single synthetic chemicals.Here, I test the hypothesis that sympatric cerambycine species avoid cross attraction by differing in the subtleties of pheromone composition and/or temporal periods of activity.The research was conducted in east central Illinois with species for which pheromones already had been identified.Temporal periodicity was characterized with pheromone-baited traps equipped with a mechanism that rotated collection jars at programmable time intervals.Traps captured 1,134 beetles of eight species in three tribes of the Cerambycinae.The study strongly supported the hypothesis: 1) Species that overlapped in activity period did not share pheromone components, and so would not be cross attracted, while 2) those species that did share pheromone components were usually temporally isolated from one another, averting cross attraction.
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Seasonal and diel periodicity of Cerambycid beetles in east-central Illinois: the potential for cross attraction