Journal of Chemical Ecology (2005) 31, 879-891

Regine Gries, Grigori Khaskin, Tadao Gotoh, Paul W. Schaefer and Gerhard Gries (2005)
(7Z,9E)-2-methyl-7,9-octadecadiene: a sex pheromone component of Lymantria bantaizana
Journal of Chemical Ecology 31 (4), 879-891
Abstract: Our objective was to identify the sex pheromone of Lymantria bantaizana (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) whose larvae feed exclusively on walnut, Juglans spp., in China, and Japan. Coupled gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) analyses of pheromone gland extracts revealed a single EAD-active component. Retention index calculations of this compound on four GC columns suggested that it was a methyl-branched octadecadiene with conjugated double bonds. In GC-EAD analyses of 2-methyloctadecenes, (Z)-2-methyl-7-octadecene and (E)-2-methyl-7-octadecene elicited the strongest antennal responses, suggesting that the double bond positions were at C7 and C9. In comparative GC-EAD analyses of pheromone gland extract and stereoselectively synthesized isomers (E,E; E,Z; Z,E; Z,Z) of 2-methyl-7,9-octadecadiene, the (E,Z)- and (Z,E)-isomer had retention times identical to that of the candidate pheromone, but only the latter isomer elicited strong EAD activity. Results of field experiments in Japan substantiated that (7Z,9E)-2-methyl-7,9-octadecadiene is the L. bantaizana sex pheromone, a compound previously unknown in the Lepidoptera. Detection surveys in North America for exotic Eurasian forest defoliators could include traps baited with the L. bantaizana pheromone.
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Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Gerhard Gries, Paul W. Schaefer

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.
	Lymantria bantaizana	Walnut/butternut (Juglans)	Japan