Journal of Chemical Ecology (2003) 29, 377-386

Paulo H.G. Zarbin, Enrico De Beni Arrigoni, Aurélia Reckziegel, Jardel A. Moreira, Patrícia T. Baraldi and Paulo C. Vieira (2003)
Identification of male-specific chiral compound from the sugarcane weevil Sphenophorus levis
Journal of Chemical Ecology 29 (2), 377-386
Abstract: Comparative gas chromatographic analyses of airborne volatiles produced by males and females of the sugarcane weevil Sphenophorus levis, showed one male-specific compound. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry data indicated an aliphatic alcohol that was identified as 2-methyl-4-octanol. Both optical isomers were synthesized in five steps by employing commercially available (R)- and (S) -2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane-4-methanol as starting material. Enantiomeric resolution by gas chromatography with a chiral column demonstrated that the natural alcohol possessed the S configuration. Preliminary indoor observations suggested that the alcohol elicited aggregation behavior among adults. The same compound has been previously described as an aggregation pheromone in several other curculionid species.
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Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Paulo Henrique Gorgatti Zarbin

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.
	Sphenophorus levis	Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum)