The fatty acid composition of some species which belong to Neuroptera (=Planipennia) order in the south-east province of Turkey

This study was carried out between april-october during the three years of research(2003, 2004, and 2005) in Adıyaman, Batman, Diyarbakır, Siirt, Şanlıurfa and Şırnakprovinces in the South-East of Turkey. In this research areas, 13 species which belong to 3families of Neuroptera order were found.Fatty acid composition of phospholipid and triacylglcerol fractions of thirteen speciesinsect which belong to three families of Neuroptera order were analysed by gaschromatograpy-mass spectrum methods. Also, we researched the effect of sex, developmentstages, body segment and diet on percentages of fatty acids of insects.The analysis of fatty acid composition of insects showed that palmitic, oleic andlinoleic acids were found to be major fatty acids in phospholipid and triacylglicerol fractions.Trace amounts of eicosanoid precursor eicosatrienoic, arachidonic andeicosapentaenoic acids were detected in both fractions. In addition, our analyses showed thepresence of odd-chain fatty acids such as nonanoic, tridecanoic, pentadecanoic heptadecanoic,trikosanoic, pentacosanoic.Adult males and females yielded simillar fatty acid profiles.There was an increase and decrease in fatty acids at different development stages suchas egg, larvae, pupa and adults of males and females insects. In phospholipid fraction, oleicand linolenic acids increased in adult insects compared to larvae stages, whereas palmitic aciddecreased.Fatty acid compositions of phospholipids and triacylglcerols prepared from selectedbody segments (head, thorax and abdomen) of male and female adults insects weredetermined. Total polyunsatured fatty acids were predominant component in male thoraxsegment.Food did not change the profil of fatty acid of both insects. There was no anyrelationship between high levels of linolenic acid in adult insects and food ingested.The fatty acid composition of various lipid classes such as phospholipids,monoacylglycerol, diacylglycerol and triacylglcerols of Macronemurus amoenus wereanalyzed. In the monoacylglycerol and diacylglycerol fractions, palmitic acid was activelybiosynthesized fatty acid.