Incorporation of ¹⁴C-Acetate into Scent Constituents by the Green Vegetable Bug

Abstract

THERE is rapidly growing interest in the nature and functions of the hypodermal glands of insects, which produce not only pheromones but also chemicals which are used in defence. Short-chain aldehydes, both saturated and unsaturated, the paraffin tridecane^1–4 and possibly furans and quinones³ have been identified in the repugnant secretion (scent) of a number of species of the hemipterous super-family Pentatomoidea. In this group the scent is believed to play a defensive part^1,4. Nothing is known of the precursors of the scent nor whether the constituents are synthesized by the insect or merely concentrated from the sap which many species pass through their digestive tract in quantity. It has been pointed out that some of the scent substances are present in low concentration in the plants on which the bugs feed¹. The present experiments were carried out in order to determine whether acetate, the main building unit in lipid metabolism, is involved in the production of the scent constituents.