Male-specific cuticular compounds of the six Drosophila paulistorum semispecies: structural identification and mating effect.

We have identified cuticular pheromones that sustain the integrity of the six Drosophila paulistorum semispecies. Hexane extracts of male and female cuticles were separated on a silica gel column and analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Both sexes of each of the six semispecies have the same fifteen major cuticular components, all hydrocarbons ranging from C31 to C37.