Sound Production in Scolytidae: Chemostimulus of Sonic Signal by the Douglas-Fir Beetle

Abstract

Stridulation by male Dendroctonus pseudotsugae was recorded in response to the natural female attractant (frass) or to three synthetic components of the attractant (frontalin, 3-methyl-2-cyclohexen-1-one, and trans-verbenol). This stridulation was acoustically distinct from stress sound and correlated with known attraction behavior. The response of female D. pseudotsugae to male stridulation—negation her attraction—was induced by playback of recorded attractant stridulation but not by that of stress sounds. Acoustic communication must be more important in scolytid behavior than it was heretofore believed to be.