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Insects
Special Issues
Hydrocarbons in Insects: Advances and Pitfalls
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Hydrocarbons in Insects: Advances and Pitfalls

A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450). This special issue belongs to the section "Insect Physiology, Reproduction and Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 4587

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Falko Drijfhout

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, UK
Interests: chemical ecology; mass spectrometry; separation; chromatography; nestmate recognition; forensic entomology; pheromones

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Hydrocarbons are a dominant class of compounds found on the cuticle of most, if not all insects, and are referred to as cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). These compounds have been studied for many years, and several functions have been attributed to this class of compounds. The significant developments in separation sciences and statistical analysis methods have increased our knowledge of these compounds enormously, but also our need for a deeper understanding of how different factors influence CHC production and variation. It is therefore not surprising that there is still a strong interest in these compounds, as is evident by the fact that in the last five years, about 500 papers were published with the keywords “Hydrocarbons AND Insects”.

However, with these developments come pitfalls due to over interpretation of the data or not fully appreciating the depths of the results. In this Special Issue, we aim to publish cutting-edge and innovative research that is breaking this barrier to give the research community that much-needed deeper understanding of the role of these compounds. We welcome contributions that will advance our knowledge of the role of these compounds, but also contributions that show these pitfalls. 

Dr. Falko Drijfhout
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cuticular hydrocarbons
  • recognition
  • mass spectrometry
  • pheromones
  • classification
  • speciation
  • chemotaxonomy
  • gas chromatography
  • separation
  • sexual dimorphism
  • chromatography
  • data analysis

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1690 KiB  
Communication
Inter- and Intrasexual Variation in Cuticular Hydrocarbons in Trichrysis cyanea (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae)
by David Fröhlich, Lukas Zangl, Günther Raspotnig and Stephan Koblmüller
Insects 2022, 13(2), 159; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/insects13020159 - 01 Feb 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1946
Abstract
Cuckoo wasps (Chrysididae, Hymenoptera) are known for their parasitoid or cleptoparasitic life histories. Indeed, the biology of only a few species has been studied in detail and often only little more is known than the host species. By mimicking their hosts’ cuticular hydrocarbon [...] Read more.
Cuckoo wasps (Chrysididae, Hymenoptera) are known for their parasitoid or cleptoparasitic life histories. Indeed, the biology of only a few species has been studied in detail and often only little more is known than the host species. By mimicking their hosts’ cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles, species that parasitize single (or a few closely related) host species manage to deceive their hosts. However, the variability of the CHC profile in generalist cuckoo-wasp species is still unknown. Here, we used gas chromatography—mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and DNA barcoding to study intraspecific variation in cuticular hydrocarbons of one less host-specific species of cuckoo wasps, Trichrysis cyanea. Cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) patterns were found to differ between males and females. Additionally, we found chemical polymorphism among females, which formed three distinct chemical subgroups characterized by different alkene patterns. A lack of divergence in the DNA barcoding region suggests that these different chemotypes do not represent cryptic species. Whether this intrasexual CHC-profile variation is an adaptation (mimicry) to different host species, or simply signaling the reproductive status, remains unclear. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrocarbons in Insects: Advances and Pitfalls)
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13 pages, 1153 KiB  
Article
Neglected Very Long-Chain Hydrocarbons and the Incorporation of Body Surface Area Metrics Reveal Novel Perspectives for Cuticular Profile Analysis in Insects
by Marek Golian, Tanja Bien, Sebastian Schmelzle, Margy Alejandra Esparza-Mora, Dino Peter McMahon, Klaus Dreisewerd and Jan Buellesbach
Insects 2022, 13(1), 83; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/insects13010083 - 12 Jan 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1999
Abstract
Most of our knowledge on insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) stems from analytical techniques based on gas-chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). However, this method has its limits under standard conditions, particularly in detecting compounds beyond a chain length of around C40. Here, we [...] Read more.
Most of our knowledge on insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) stems from analytical techniques based on gas-chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). However, this method has its limits under standard conditions, particularly in detecting compounds beyond a chain length of around C40. Here, we compare the CHC chain length range detectable by GC-MS with the range assessed by silver-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (Ag-LDI-MS), a novel and rarely applied technique on insect CHCs, in seven species of the order Blattodea. For all tested species, we unveiled a considerable range of very long-chain CHCs up to C58, which are not detectable by standard GC-MS technology. This indicates that general studies on insect CHCs may frequently miss compounds in this range, and we encourage future studies to implement analytical techniques extending the conventionally accessed chain length range. Furthermore, we incorporate 3D scanned insect body surface areas as an additional factor for the comparative quantification of extracted CHC amounts between our study species. CHC quantity distributions differed considerably when adjusted for body surface areas as opposed to directly assessing extracted CHC amounts, suggesting that a more accurate evaluation of relative CHC quantities can be achieved by taking body surface areas into account. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrocarbons in Insects: Advances and Pitfalls)
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