Journal of Chemical Ecology (1995) 21, 1619-1629

A. Cameron Oehlschlager, R.N.B. Prior, Alice L. Perez, Regine Gries, Gerhard Gries, Harold D. Pierce Jr. and Sam Laup (1995)
Structure, chirality, and field testing of a male-produced aggregation pheromone of Asian palm weevil Rhynchophorus bilineatus (Montr.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
Journal of Chemical Ecology 21 (10), 1619-1629
Abstract: 4-Methyl-5-nonanol is a male-produced aggregation pheromone of the Asian palm weevil, Rhynchophorus bilineatus (Montr.). The pheromone was identified by coupled gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) and coupled GC-mass spectrometric (MS) analyses of male-and female-produced volatiles. Analyses by GC-EAD and GC-MS of weevil-produced and stereoselectively synthesized isomers of 4-methyl-5-nonanol on a Cyclodex B column, which separated isomers with baseline resolution, revealed that only (4S,5S)-4-methyl-5-nonanol is EAD active and produced by the males. In field experiments in Papua New Guinea, (4S,5S)-4-methyl-5-nonanol and a racemic mixture of disatereoisomers of it enhanced attraction of male and female weevils to sugarcane-baited traps. (4S,5S)-4-Methyl-5-nonanol is also an aggregation pheromone of two other Asian palm weevils, R. ferrugineus (Oliv.) and R. vulneratus (Panz.). The stereoisomeric mixture of 4-methyl-5-nonanol is currently used to manage populations of R. bilineatus in Papua New Guinea.
(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): Gerhard Gries

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

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Rhynchophorus ferrugineus
	Rhynchophorus bilineatus		Papua New Guinea