Evidence of the juvenile hormone methyl(2E,6E)-10,11-epoxy-3,7,11-trimethyl-2,6-dodecadienoate(JH-3) in insects of four orders.

W ith the help of radioactive dilution analysis allowing the qualitative and quantitative deter­ mination of all three presently known juvenile hormones (JH-1 to 3) the following seven species of four orders were investigated in the adult stage: Coleoptera: Tenebrio molitor, Leptinotarsa decemlineata; O rthoptera: Schistocerca gregaria; B lattodea: Blatt a orientalis, Leucophaea maderae, Nauphoeta cinerea; Hymenoptera: A pis mellifera. In all these species of the 3 known juvenile hormones only methyl (2E ,6E)-10,ll-epoxy-3,7,lltrimethyl-2,6-dodecadienoate (JH-3) was found, in an amount of 0.5 to 11 ng per gram of body weight. The results of the chemical analyses were confirmed biologically by the Galleria wax test. The results demonstrate the wride spread occurrence of JH-3 in insects of different orders.