1 , 4 -BENZOQUINONES IN AFRICAN MILLIPEDS 1 
By J. Smolanoff, 2 J. M. Demange, 3 J. Meinwald, 2 T. Eisner 4 
The defensive glands of millipeds have been the subject of con- 
siderable recent chemical and biological investigation. Compounds 
identified from the secretions have included hydrogen cyanide, ace- 
tate esters, aldehydes, phenols, i ,4-benzoquinones, quinazolinones, and 
nitrogen-containing terpenes (references in Eisner et al., 1975) . The 
most widespread of these components are the 1 ,4-benzoquinones which 
have been found in the secretion of species of the orders Julida, Spiro- 
bolida, and Spirostreptida. We here report the isolation of 1 ,4-ben- 
zoquinones from three species of Spirostreptida from Africa: Archi- 
spirostreptus tumuliporus , Peridontopyge conani , and P. rubescens , 
The millipeds were collected in Senegal, in the region of Kaolack 
(Sine-Saloum) , where they are known to damage agricultural crops, 
particularly peanuts. Peridontopyge conani and P . rubescens can be 
especially abundant. At the beginning of the rainy season the milli- 
peds swarm over the soil surface in large numbers in search of food 
and mates. 
The animals were shipped live to Ithaca, N. Y., where they were 
“milked” of secretions on arrival. Individual animals were handled 
and tapped gently with a small metal mallet, until the golden-brown 
secretion oozed from their glands. The effluent was soaked up in 
pieces of filter paper, and transferred to carbon disulfide. Examina- 
tion of the secretion from the two species of Peridontopyge by gas- 
liquid chromatography (6 ft. column, 15% SE-30, 200°C) revealed 
the presence of a single component. Comparison with an authentic 
sample (gas-liquid chromatography, infrared spectroscopy, proton 
magnetic resonance spectroscopy) showed this component to be 2- 
methyl-3-methoxy- 1 ,4-benzoquinone. 
The secretion from A. tumuliporus was shown by gas-liquid chro- 
matography to contain two components, which by chromatographic 
and spectroscopic comparison with authentic samples were shown to 
a Paper No. XLIV of the series Defense Mechanisms of Arthropods. 
department of Chemistry, Spencer T. Olin Laboratory, Cornell Univer- 
sity, Ithaca, New York 14853. 
3 Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Laboratoire de Zoologie, 61 Rue 
de Buffon, Paris — V e . 
4 Section of Neurobiology and Behavior, Division of Biological Sciences, 
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853. 
Manuscript received by the editor April 3, 1975 
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