Date of Award

January 2016

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Entomology

First Advisor

Matthew D. Ginzel

Committee Member 1

Michael E. Scharf

Committee Member 2

Clifford S. Sadof

Committee Member 3

Richard Meilan

Abstract

In this dissertation, I present research I conducted to test the hypothesis that chirality influences the behavioral resposnses of longhorned beetles to volatile and contact pheromones. Structures of pheromones in the longhorned beetles generally fall along taxonomic lines, and various structural modifications such as functional groups and stereochemistry are used to grant species spcecificity to these signals. Effects of chirality on the bioactivity of volatile pheromones has been documented in the longhorned beetle subfamily Cerambycinae, but little is known about how stereochemistry affects behavioral responses of conspecifics to contact pheromones in this subfamily, and volatile pheromones in the Lamiinae.

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