Sex pheromone communication in the odd beetle,Thylodrias contractes motschulsky (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)

Adult virgin females of the odd beetle,Thylodrias contractus, produce a volatile sex pheromone that influences the behavior of conspecific males and attracts them in laboratory olfactometer tests. The active substance can be collected by allowing virgin females to walk on absorbent paper disks. Disks exposed to mated females do not elicit a response from males. The male odd beetle repeatedly rubs the antennae, head, and thorax of a female with a setate glandular area on his second abdominal sternum during courtship, probably secreting a reciprocally active aphrodisiac substance.