A synergism between dimethyl trisulfide and methyl thiolacetate in attracting carrion-frequenting beetles demonstrated b
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CHEMOECOLOGY
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
A synergism between dimethyl trisulfide and methyl thiolacetate in attracting carrion‑frequenting beetles demonstrated by use of a chemically‑supplemented minimal trap Stephen T. Trumbo1 · John A. Dicapua III1 Received: 24 February 2020 / Accepted: 9 October 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Volatile organic compounds derived from microbes recruit insects to carrion, shaping community assembly and ecological succession. The importance of individual volatiles and interactions between volatiles are difficult to assess in the field because of (1) the myriad compounds from decomposing animals and (2) the likelihood that complex volatile blends are important for the final approach to carrion. On the assumption that searching carrion-frequenting beetles may use simpler cues to orient at a distance, we employed a chemically-supplemented minimal trap that uses test chemicals associated with active decay to attract from a distance and a minimal carrion bait (a small fresh mouse carcass) to induce trap entry. Traps supplemented with both methyl thiolacetate (MeSAc) and dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS) attracted greater numbers of beetles including adult silphids (Necrophila americana and Oiceoptoma noveboracense) and the histerid Euspilotus assimilis than the combined totals of DMTS-only and MeSAc-only traps, demonstrating a synergism. The attraction of larval Necrophila americana to traps left in the field for less than 24 h suggests that larvae move between carrion sources. The use of such species for forensic applications requires caution. Keywords Carrion ecology · Synergism · Dimethyl trisulfide · Methyl thiolacetate · Forensic entomology · Corpse flower
Introduction Organisms respond to complex sets of cues to locate food and breeding resources (Verschut et al. 2019). Many cues work in concert to attract greater numbers of searchers and one way to explore these interactions is by employing chemical traps (Landolt et al. 2007; von Hoermann et al. 2012). A synergistic effect between volatile attractants (as opposed to an additive effect) can be demonstrated when traps with a blend catch more individuals than the combined numbers of separate single-volatile traps (Cosse and Baker 1996). In some cases, a single compound may be ineffective on its own and only demonstrate potency when in combination with another volatile (Ohsugi et al. 1985). Such compounds may Communicated by Günther Raspotnig. * Stephen T. Trumbo [email protected] 1
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 99 E. Main St., Waterbury, CT 06710, USA
be overlooked as important synergists, especially when the number of compounds is high as occurs with a decomposing animal (Cammack et al. 2015; Forbes and Carter 2015; Verheggen et al. 2017 but see; Chaudhury et al. 2017; Yoho 2019). Exploring the volatiles important to carrion insects is challenging. The multitude of volatiles (> 500), derived from diverse microbes, are embedded in a noisy odor environment (Wilson et al. 2015)
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