Male-produced aggregation pheromone of the cerambycid beetle Rosalia funebris

We report the identification, synthesis, and field bioassays of the volatile male-produced aggregation pheromone of a longhorned beetle, the banded alder borer, Rosalia funebris Mots. Extracts of headspace volatiles from males contained a major male-specific compound, (Z)-3-decenyl (E)-2-hexenoate, and several minor components. The antennae of both males and females responded strongly to (Z)-3-decenyl (E)-2-hexenoate, and we attracted significant numbers of adult R. funebris in field bioassays using traps baited with this compound. This pheromone structure is unprecedented in the literature of cerambycid pheromones and distinct from the more common diol/hydroxyketone pheromone motif of many other species of the diverse subfamily Cerambycinae. This is also the first pheromone identified for a species in the tribe Rosaliini.