Quinone inhibition of sex pheromone activity in the ticks Dermacentor andersoni Stiles and Dermacentor variabilis (Say) [Sex attractants, quinones]

Disruption of sex pheromone activity in female Rocky Mountain wood ticks, Dermacentor andersoni Stiles, and American dog ticks, Dermacentor variabilis (Say), was achieved by treatment with the quinones parabenzoquinone and menadione. The most effective treatments were those administered by inoculation to unfed, mature, adult females prior to feeding. Inoculation of p-benzoquinone was also effective when administered to feeding ticks, from 2 to 5 days after they had attached, though not to the same extent as when it was given to unfed ticks. Decreases in sex pheromone activity were also observed with D. andersoni females, but not D. variabilis females, allowed to feed on rabbits receiving menadione daily by oral administration. Histochemical studies and electron microscopy revealed loss of neutral lipid secretory droplets in the pheromone glands, but no damage to gland structure, following treatment with p-benzoquinone. Elemental analysis revealed more than four times as much chlorine in pheromone glands of p-benzoquinone-treated D. variabilis females than in pheromone glands from control specimens. An extract of partially fed D. variabilis females treated with p-benzoquinone before feeding contained much more 2,6-dichlorophenol than an extract of untreated, partially fed females. Evidently, the quinone affects the neutral lipid component of the female sex pheromone gland, disrupting secretion and release of pheromone to the external body surface.