Environmental Entomology (1984) 13, 121-126

R.E. Lynch, J.A. Klun, B.A. Leonhardt, M. Schwarz and J.W. Garner (1984)
Female sex pheromone of the lesser cornstalk borer, Elasmopalpus lignosellus (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)
Environmental Entomology 13 (1), 121-126
Abstract: Heptane extracts of ovipositors from lesser cornstalk borer females were found to contain 10 compounds: 3 C₁₄ acetates, 3 C₁₆ acetates, 2 C₁₄ alcohols, and 2 C₁₆ alcohols. Field-trapping studies showed that a mixture of these 10 compounds was as effective as virgin females in luring males into traps. Tests with combinations of these 10 compounds showed that a mixture of only 4 compounds, (Z)-7-tetradecen-1-ol acetate, (Z)-9-tetradecen-1-ol acetate, (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-ol acetate, and (Z)-9-tetradecen-1-ol, was as effective as virgin females in causing male trap captures. Deletion of any one of these compounds from the four-component mixture resulted in diminished male captures. Thus, male perception of the quaternary mixture is important for elicitation of behavior that results in trap capture, and the four compounds are essential components in the insect's pheromonal communications.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Robert E. Lynch, Jerome A. Klun

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.
	Elasmopalpus lignosellus