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Gastropod attractants: Potential management tool for Giant African Land Snail Lissachatina fulica ? RESEARCH UPDATE. Rory McDonnell 1 , Amy Roda 2 and Jocelyn Millar 1. 1: Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside
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Gastropod attractants: Potential management tool for Giant African Land Snail Lissachatina fulica?RESEARCH UPDATE Rory McDonnell1, Amy Roda2 and Jocelyn Millar1 1: Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside 2: CPHST, USDA-APHIS, Subtropical Horticultural Research Station, Miami
Background • Chemical cues play roles in feeding, prey detection, predator avoidance, alarm responses, species recognition & reproduction in gastropods • External attractants e.g. from food sources • Possible pheromones • Sex pheromones • Aggregation pheromones
Sex pheromones Ilyanassa obsoleta Euhadra peliompha exoticsguide.org Photo: Wikimedia Commons • Spawning and breeding in mud snails organized by at least two kairomones and three pheromones • Gland in the head produces a pheromone that elicits courtship and copulation
Aggregation Pheromones Lissachatina oriented towards odor of conspecifics Source reported to be the pedal mucus gland Attractant is a pheromone Source: Chase (1978)
Our Approach • Attractants produced by conspecifics • Follow up on preliminary work by Chase from 1978, showing attraction of GAS to odors from conspecifics • Attractants from other sources Identify and develop attractants from other sources (e.g., food)
Response of Lissachatina fulica to the odor of conspecifics X2 = 24.69, P<0.001, n=20
Odor analysis results • Little difference between snail and control aerations • One compound appeared consistently in snail odor collections 2-diethylaminoethanol
Response of Lissachatinafulicato a 0.01% solution of 2-diethlyaminoethanol X2 = 6.14, P<0.05, n = 14
2. Other attractants • Fed snails a variety of different foods • With one food item, noticed a distinct oriented mass movement towards the food • Much more pronounced than normal, clearly strong attraction to odors from the food
Attraction to food odors • Pronounced oriented movement towards food source
Replicated bioassays • Two choice bioassay • 1ml of treatment and 1ml control on filter paper • Position of treatment and control switched after each replicate • Snails tested individually to prevent trail-following • Choice made when snail touched the Petri dish or after 45min Treatment Control
Response to steam distillate X2 = 6.07, P<0.05, n = 10 Statistically significant attraction Result: Attractants are extractable and heat stable
Response to ether extract of steam distillate X2 = 6.07, P<0.05, n = 10 Statistically significant attraction Result: Attractant extractable into organic solvent, easier to work with
Response to acid-treated steam distillate X2 =6.00, P<0.05, n = 10 Statistically significant attraction Result: Attractant cannot be amine or other organic base
Response to base-treated steam distillate X2 = 7.00, P<0.05, n = 10 Statistically significant attraction Result: Attractant cannot be organic acid
Response to neutralized ether extract of steam distillate X2 = 20.20, P<0.001, n = 10 Statistically significant attraction Result: Attractant is one or more neutral compounds in the steam distillate
Response to methanol elution of steam distillate volatiles trapped on solid phase extraction cartridge X2 = 8.32, P<0.05, n = 10 Statistically significant attraction Result: Attractant is a moderately polar compound
Conclusion • The attractant is a heat-stable neutral compound(s) that is moderately polar • Some attraction to a partial reconstruction of the compounds in the neutrals fraction
Next steps! Pheromone: 1. Continue to analyze the aeration extracts 2. Testing of pedal mucus gland
Next steps! Food based attractant: 1. Analysis of the neutrals fraction from the steam distillate 2. Development of a fractionation scheme 3. Reconstruction of the volatiles blend for bioassays
Questions? Acknowledgements: APHIS-PPQ-CPHST for funding to date