The ability of stink bugs to release high amounts of strong-smelling and irritating defensive compounds is related to their metathoracic gland (MTG), which is an exocrine gland with defensive, sexual, alarm and aggregation signal functions. Orsilochides leucoptera (Scutelleridae) is a widespread species in the Neotropical region that feeds on plants of the families Malvaceae, Poaceae and Euphorbiaceae. A series of compounds (ketones, alcohols and esters) have been identified in the MTGs among the three species of Scutelleridae whose MTG secretions have been investigated thus far; however, no sex pheromone compounds have been described for any scutellerid species. The aim of this work was to study sex pheromone communication within this family of stink bugs, and identify the compounds present in the MTG of O. leucoptera. Analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) revealed two male specific compounds identified as (R)-camphor (1) and (R)-borneol (2), which were attractive to females in Y-tube olfactometer bioassays. Also, GC/MS analysis of secretions from MTG of males and females of O. leucoptera, identified eight additional compounds: 2-(E)-hexenal (3), (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal (4), (E)-hex-2-enyl acetate (5), (R)-linalool (6), (R)-α-terpineol (7), dodecane (8), 1-tridecene (9) and n-tridecane (10). From these, (R)-α-terpineol was detected only in the gland of males, and is probably a biosynthetic intermediate of the pheromone components. Most of the MTG compounds identified in O. leucoptera have been identified in other heteropteran species. Camphor is often a toxic and repellent compound for insects. However, we report it, for the first time, as a sex pheromone component of an insect.

中文翻译：

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樟脑和冰片作为男性的盾构臭虫性信息素，Orsilochides leucoptera（半翅目：Scutelleridae）。

臭虫释放大量强气味和刺激性防御化合物的能力与其后胸腺（MTG）有关，后者是具有防御，性，警报和聚集信号功能的外分泌腺。Orsilochides leucoptera（Scutelleridae）是新热带地区的一个广泛物种，以锦葵科，禾本科和大戟科的植物为食。在迄今为止已研究过MTG分泌的三种of科中，已在MTG中鉴定出一系列化合物（酮，醇和酯）。然而，尚未对任何一种盾cut物种描述过性信息素化合物。这项工作的目的是研究该臭虫家族中的性信息素交流，并确定存在于MTG中的化合物。O. leucoptera。气相色谱/质谱（GC / MS）分析显示，两种雄性特定化合物分别为（R）樟脑（1）和（R）冰片（2），在Y型管嗅觉仪生物测定中对女性有吸引力。另外，从雄性和雌性的MTG分泌物GC / MS分析O.鸥，确定了八个额外的化合物：2-（ë） -己烯醛（3），（ê）-4-氧代-2-己烯醛（4）， （E）-己二烯基乙酸酯（5），（R）-芳樟醇（6），（R）-α-松油醇（7）），十二烷（8），1-十三碳烯（9）和正十三碳烷（10）。从这些中，仅在雄性腺中检测到（R）-α-松油醇，可能是信息素成分的生物合成中间体。在白翅目昆虫中鉴定的大多数MTG化合物已在其他异翅类物种中鉴定。樟脑通常是一种有毒和驱虫的化合物。但是，我们首次将其报告为昆虫的性信息素成分。