An Ecological Role of Volatiles Produced by Lasiodiplodia theobromae

Abstract

One function of the volatiles produced by the fungus Lasiodiplodia theobromae was supposed to be ecological, as an insect attractant, which could get the attracted insects to be a vector of the fungal spores. L. theobromae, a mellein-producing fungus, was isolated from the outer surface of a danaid butterfly, ldea leuconoe. Ingestion by the butterfly of mellein on some plant tissues that contained mellein from 0. 3 to 11 ppm was observed in the field and also in an insectarium. All these plant tissues were infected with L. theobromae, therefore, the mellein was concluded to be produced by the fungi. These observation suggests the presence of a kind of mutualistic relation between ldea leuconoe and L. theobromae associated with mellein, which is a suspected sex pheromone of the buttertly, accumulated in its hairpencil.