First Contact Pheromone Identified for a Longhorned Beetle (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in the Subfamily Prioninae

Little is known of the reproductive behavior of longhorned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in the subfamily Prioninae. Mallodon dasystomus (Say), the hardwood stump borer, is a widely distributed prionine that is native to the southern U.S. Here, we explored the chemically-mediated mating behavior of M. dasystomus, and tested the hypothesis that males recognize females by a contact pheromone. In mating bioassays, all males tested attempted to...