Pheromones: background and potential for use in insect pest control.

Pesticides have not been a satisfactory solution to the control of insect pests. Pheromones show promise as a component of integrated pest management.

Biological Responses of Atta texana to Its Alarm Pheromone and the Enantiomer of the Pheromone.

S-(+)-4-Methyl-3-heptanone is the principal alarm pheromone of Atta texana. The dextrorotatory form of the ketone has also been identified from Atta cephalotes. Both enantiomers have been synthesized in high optical purity; Atta texana is more responsive to the (+) enantiomer than to the (-) form. These results implicate a chiral receptor system.

Sex stimulant and attractant in the Indian meal moth and in the almond moth.

cis-9, trans-12-Tetradecadien-1-yl acetate was isolated from the female Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner), and the female almond moth, Cadra cautella (Walker). It is the major if not the sole component of the sex stimulatory and attractant pheromone of female Plodia. It is present in the pheromone of the female Cadra along with at least one synergist.

Sex Attractant of Female Dermestid Beetle Trogoderma inclusum Le Conte.

Two components of the sex attractant of a female dermestid beetle Trogoderma inclusum Le Conte were identified. They are (-)-14-methyl-cis-8-hexadecen-1-ol and (-)-methyl-14-methyl-cis-8-hexadecenoate. Other Trogoderma species also respond to the compounds.

Sex attractant of the black carpet beetle.

The principal component of the sex attractant of the black carpet beetle Attagenus megatoma (Fabricius) is trans-3, cis-5-tetradecadienoic acid.

Mammalian pheromone: identification of active component in the subauricular scent of the male pronghorn.

Male pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) mark vegetation by rubbing with their subauricular glands. Males respond to scent marks by sniffing, licking, thrashing, and marking. Hand-raised males were confronted with artificial scent marks consisting of whole extract of the subauricular gland or synthesized compounds corresponding to those identified from the extract. Of these, isovaleric acid released the strongest responses.

Clarification of the chemical status of the pink bollworm sex pheromone.

Propylure, 10-n-propyl-trans-5,9-tridecadienyl acetate, and deet, N,N,-diethyl-m-tolumide, were previously reported as the sex pheromone and a sex pheromone activator, respectively, of the pink bollworm. Neither chemical in three extracts of female moth abdomen tips could be detected by gas-liquid chromatographic analysis. These compounds, alone or in combination, exhibited little or no biological activity in the laboratory or in the field. Hexalure, cis-7-hexadecenyl acetate, a synthetic attractant for pink bollworm males, could not be detected in female moth abdomen tip extracts. The pink bollworm sex pheromone was identified as a mixture of cis,cis and cis,trans isomers of 7,11-hexadecadienyl acetate.

Western pine beetle: field response to its sex pheromone and a synergistic host terpene, myrcene.

In the field, both sexes of the western pine beetle, Dendroctonus brevicomis, are attracted by the female-produced bicyclic ketal exo-brevicomin; this response is enhanced by myrcene (a constituent of the beetle's host, ponderosapine), which is not an attractant by itself. This synergism may be part of the phenomenon of the mass attack on its host. Temnochila virescens chlorodia, one of the principal insectan predators of this beetle, is attracted by exo-brevicomin alone.

Response of Ips confusus to synthetic sex pheromones in nature.

The first flight response of bark beetles to synthetic sex pheromones under natural conditions is reported. Two insect species predaceous on this bark beetle also responded. The synthetic compounds delivered in an airstream from a substrate of Carbowax 20M on Chromosorb A appear to elicit the same response as the natural attractant from male-infested bolts of ponderosa pine elicits.

Brevicomin: principal sex attractant in the frass of the female western pine beetle.

The principal component of the sex attractant produced by the female western pine beetle (Dendrotonus brevicomis) is exo-7-ethyl-5-methyl-6,8-dioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octane; the trivial name brevicomin is suggested.

Cross-attraction between two species of Matsucoccus : Extraction, bioassay, and isolation of the sex pheromone.

In laboratory bioassays, males of Matsucoccus resinosae from Pinus resinosa in New York and Matsucoccus n. sp. from Pinus thunbergiana in Korea were strongly attracted to crude hexane extracts of M. resinosae females, and M. resinosae males responded strongly to extracts of Matsucoccus n. sp. females. Males of the two species responded similarly to gas chromatographic fractions and subfractions of a pentane extract of M. resinosae females. Sex pheromones of these two species appear to be the same or very similar.

Components of moribund American elm trees as attractants to elm bark beetles,Hylurgopinus rufipes and Scolytus multistriatus.

Hylurgopinus rufipes male and female beetles were attracted to American elms infected with Dutch elm disease, and to American elms killed by injection of cacodylic acid.H. rufipes was also attracted to solvent extracts of elm, or to Porapak Q-trapped volatiles from elm. The major components of attractive fractions of Porapak Q-trapped volatiles were isolated, identified, and tested in field bioassays. Several artificially compounded mixtures of sesquiterpenes were attractive toH. rufipes, although no bait tested was as attractive as diseased tree controls. Laboratory bioassays with H. rufipes were marginally successful. In laboratory bioassays, nine of 14 sequiterpenes identified from active fractions of Porapak extracts elicited significant response from Scolytus multistriatus male and female beetles: δ- and γ-cadinene, α-cubebene, γ-muurolene, and ß-elemene were most active. However, in field tests, none of the sesquiterpenes alone or in combination significantly attracted S. multistriatus, nor did they significantly enhance the attraction of S. multistriatus to female-produced pheromone components (4-methyl-3-heptanol [H] and α-multistriatin [M]). In other field tests, α-cubebene (C) significantly enhanced response of S. multistriatus to H plus M, but foliage, logs, or chips of healthy elm did not enhance trap catch to HMC.