Methoxypyrazine composition of Coccinellidae-tainted Riesling and Pinot noir wine from Germany.

BACKGROUND: Harmonia axyridis (multicolored Asian ladybeetle) and Coccinella septempunctata (seven-spot ladybeetle) (Coccinellidae) are found in many wine regions in Europe and the Americas, where they are responsible for a pronounced wine fault known as 'ladybug taint' when incorporated with grapes during harvest operations. Methoxypyrazines have been proposed in the literature as the compounds responsible for the taint. This study sought to expand on this identification and also determine the effectiveness of heating Coccinellidae-affected grape must prior to fermentation as a possible remedial intervention. Riesling and Pinot noir grapes were infested with H. axyridis or C. septempunctata at different densities and fermented to dryness. The Pinot noir was either must heated prior to fermentation or processed without heating (control). All wines were analyzed for 2-isopropyl-, 2-sec-butyl-, 2-isobutyl- and 2,5-dimethyl-3-methoxypyrazine using headspace solid phase microextraction/multidimensional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Concentrations of 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine increased with beetle density for both Coccinellidae species, while other methoxypyrazines showed inconsistent or no variation with infestations levels. Heating of Pinot noir grapes prior to fermentation resulted in a moderate decrease in all methoxypyrazines. CONCLUSION: These results provide direction for more targeted treatments aimed at remediating musts/wines affected by Coccinellidae and indicate that winegrowers do not need to differentiate between H. axyridis and C. septempunctata when making action threshold decisions in the vineyard or winery.

Influence of diet on fecundity, immune defense and content of 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine in Harmonia axyridis Pallas.

Food type can affect all functional aspects of an insect's life. We investigated the effects of different diet regimes on life history parameters of the ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis. Furthermore, we tested the importance of elytral color, sex, and diet on chemical and immune defense in this species. We also compared hemolymph from cohorts of H. axyridis and Coccinella septempunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) fed different diets to examine effects on the 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (IPMP) content in these beetles. No effects of diet on the duration of larval development and on adult weight were found. We detected, however, significantly higher fecundity and oviposition rates when female H. axyridis were reared on pea aphids than when reared on eggs of Ephestia kuehniella. Males and females did not differ in their immune response. Elytral color affected both immune defense and chemical defense. The antimicrobial activity of the hemolymph differed only when morphotypes were tested against E. coli. Moreover, we observed an effect of elytral pigmentation on IPMP content. The succinea 2 type (orange without dots) had the lowest IPMP content in two out of three feeding regimes compared to the succinea 1 (orange with dots) type. Depending on diet, IPMP contents differed in both species leading to higher contents either in H. axyridis or C. septempunctata. Furthermore, aphid species ingested during larval development significantly affected IPMP content in adult beetles. These results implicate new aspects for risk assessment of H. axyridis in viticulture.

[(C3H4N2)2Au]Cl--a bis protic gold(I)-NHC.

The gold(I) bis-NHC (NHC = imidazol-2-ylidene) parent compound was synthesised in high yield by a three step reaction starting from imidazole. The compound is highly water soluble and stable in concentrated hydrochloric acid.