3-pentanol: a new attractant present in volatile emissions from the ambrosia beetle, Megaplatypus mutatus

Megaplatypus mutatus (=Platypus mutatus) (Coleoptera: Platypodidae) is an ambrosia beetle that is native to South America. It attacks only standing live trees and causes severe stem breakage and death in commercial poplar (Populus) plantations. Previous work showed that male M. mutatus emits a sex pheromone composed mainly of (+)-sulcatol and sulcatone. We collected male volatile emissions during the hours of maximum emergence by using a specific polar microextraction phase; analyzed the extract by GC-MS; and tested the biological activity of selected compounds in the extract with a walking behavioral assay. Female M. mutatus emerged primarily between 7 and 11 h. In the chemical analyses of volatiles, a third compound, 3-pentanol, was identified in a small percentage of samples. Walking behavioral bioassays with video image analysis showed that at the doses tested, 3-pentanol elicited an attractive response from females.