Evidence of the Juvenile Hormone Methyl(2E,6E)-10,11-epoxy- 3,7,11-trimethyl-2,6-dodecadienoate(JH-3) in Insects of Four Orders

Abstract

With the help of radioactive dilution analysis allowing the qualitative and quantitative deter­mination of all three presently known juvenile hormones (JH-1 to 3) the following seven species of four orders were investigated in the adult stage: Coleoptera: Tenebrio molitor, Leptinotarsa decemlineata; Orthoptera: Schistocerca gregaria; Blattodea: Blatta orientalis, Leucophaea maderae, Nauphoeta cinerea; Hymenoptera: Apis mellifera. In all these species of the 3 known juvenile hormones only m ethyl (2E ,6E)-10,11-epoxy-3,7,11-trimethyl-2,6-dodecadienoate (JH-3) was found, in an amount of 0.5 to 11 ng per gram of body weight. The results of the chemical analyses were confirmed biologically by the Galleria wax test. The results demonstrate the wide spread occurrence of JH-3 in insects of different orders.