Production of the Sesquiterpenoid, Juvenile Hormone-1 (JH-I), and of Vitamin E in the Accessory Sexual (colleterial) Glands of Adult Male Moths, Hyalophora cecropia (Linnaeus, 1758), (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)

The content of the sesquiterpenoids, juvenile hormones (JH), JH-I, JH-II, JH-III and Vitamin E (-, -, -and -Tocopherols) was investigated in mated and unmated adult Cecropia silkworms, Hyalophora cecropia (Linnaeus, 1758), using combined chromatography/mass spectrometry methods. The relatively most abundant derivative of Vitamin E was -tocopherol, the highest concentrations of which were found in the fat body of unmated males (30 ng/organ), and which was substantially decreased after mating. Conversely, the content of -tocopherol increased more than twice in female abdomens after mating. This suggests that Vitamin E was transferred from the male to the female reproductive systems during courtship. Chromatographic analysis of extracts prepared from female abdomens, male fat bodies, and male reproductive organs revealed that separate fractions of Vitamin E (-tocopherol, -+ -tocopherols and -tocopherol) were evenly distributed in quantitative proportions of 18400 : 550 : 100, respectively. These results suggest that sesquiterpenoid derivatives of Vitamin E play important functions in insect reproduction, in analogy with similar functions of Vitamin E during reproduction of vertebrate animals.