| Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs)of insects are comprised of straight chain, unsaturated and methyl-branched complex mixtures. In addition to acting as a desiccation barrier, the CHCs may have mutually nonexclusive functions. Here, we summarized the research progress in cuticular hydrocarbon of beetles, the most diversified insect group, mainly focused on chemical communication, including sex pheromone, marking pheromone, aggregation pheromone, chemical mimicry, host recognition, etc. Also, the factors influencing CHC profiles, molecular mechanism of biosynthesis and application in chemotaxonomy were reviewed. By summarizing these above, we aim to provide insights for further related study. |
