Agricultural and Forest Entomology (2002) 4, 233-236

Gunnhild Jaastad, Marie Bengtsson, Peter Anderson, Sverre Kobro, Geir Knudsen and Peter Witzgall (2002)
Sex pheromone of apple fruit moth Argyresthia conjugella (Lepidoptera: Argyresthiidae)
Agricultural and Forest Entomology 4 (3), 233-236
Abstract: 1. The apple fruit moth Argyresthia conjugella Zell. (Lepidoptera: Argyresthiidae) is the most important pest of apple in Scandinavia. It invades apple orchards and can destroy an entire crop during years of poor flowering and fruitsetting of its principal host, mountain ash Sorbus aucuparia. We investigated the female sex pheromone of apple fruit moth in order to develop a reliable lure, which can be used to detect migration of apple fruit moth into orchards and thus to avoid preventive insecticide sprays.
2. Pheromonal compounds obtained by solvent extraction of excised A. conjugella female pheromone glands were identified by coupled gas chromatography/electroantennography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Two compounds (Z)-11-hexadecenyl acetate, and the analogous alcohol (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-ol, elicited a strong response from male antennae. (Z)-11-hexadecenyl acetate was highly attractive in field trapping tests, whereas as little as a 1%-addition of (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-ol strongly reduced male attraction.
3. (Z)-13-octadecenyl acetate, a previously reported sex attractant, had no effect on A. conjugella male attraction.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Gunnhild Jaastad, Sverre Kobro, Peter Witzgall

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
pheromones/attractants/traps

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Argyresthia conjugella	Apple (Malus)	Norway