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Male Rhyzopertha dominica (F.)(Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) release an aggregation pheromone consisting of a blend of two components, dominicalure 1 (D1) and Dominicalure 2 (D2). Pheromone from single insects, in different contexts, was collected and measured to determine if this signal is phenotypically plastic. Release rates were lowered when males were moved from maize grains to groundnut kernels or when moved from solitary occupation of maize grain to grain occupied by seven females. The pheromone release was increased again once these moves were reversed. The release of D1 was more affected than D2: thus, on groundnuts or in the presence of females, less pheromone was released and the proportion of D1 in the blend was lowered. Possible reasons for the modifications of the signal are discussed.

The legume podborer, Maruca vitrata(syn. M. testulalis) (F.) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is a pantropical pest of legume crops. Sex pheromone was collected by gland extraction or trapping of volatiles from virgin female moths originating in India, West Africa, or Taiwan. Analysis by GC-EAG and GC-MS confirmed previously published findings that (E,E)-10,12- hexadecadienal is the most abundant EAG-active component with 2–5% of (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienol also present. At least one other EAG response was detected at retention times typical of monounsaturated hexadecenals or tetradecenyl acetates, but neither could be detected by GC-MS. Laboratory wind-tunnel bioassays and a field bioassay of blends of (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienal with (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienol and a range of monounsaturated hexadecenal and tetradecenyl acetate isomers indicated greatest attraction of males was to those including (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienol and (E)-10-hexadecenal as minor components. In subsequent trapping experiments in cowpea fields in Benin, traps baited with a three-component blend of (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienal and these two minor components in a 100:5:5 ratio caught significantly more males than traps baited with the major component alone, either two-component blend, or virgin female moths. Further blend optimization experiments did not produce a more attractive blend. No significant differences in catches were found between traps baited with polyethylene vials or rubber septa, or between lures containing 0.01 and 0.1 mg of synthetic pheromone. Significant numbers of female M. vitratamoths, up to 50% of total catches, were trapped with synthetic blends but not with virgin females. At present there is no clear explanation for this almost unprecedented finding, but the phenomenon may improve the predictive power of traps for population monitoring.

Intermale variation in pheromone signaling has been confirmed and quantified by measurements of pheromone produced by single adult male Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae). Males varied in both the amounts of the two components of their aggregation pheromone and the ratio of one component to the other. The mean rates of production of the pheromone components T1 and T2 were 1.9 and 0.5 μg/day, respectively. There were repeatable differences among males in the amounts of T2 produced and the proportion of T1 in the pheromone blend over two weeks. Of the 15 males studied, one released a large burst of pheromone in a short period, while the remainder, if they did release, did so over an extended period. This suggested that there may be two alternative release strategies and the significance of this is discussed.

Securidaca longepedunculata Fers (Polygalaceae) is commonly used as a medicine in many parts of Africa and shows promise for protecting stored grain against insect pests. Analysis of a methanol extract of the root bark by gas chromatography linked to mass spectrometry (GC/MS) showed a major component accounting for over 90% of the volatile material. This was identified as methyl 2-hydroxybenzoate (methyl salicylate) by comparison of the GC retention times and mass spectrum with those of synthetic standards. This conflicts with an earlier report that the major component is methyl 4-hydroxybenzoate. Two minor components had mass spectra characteristic of 2-hydroxybenzoate esters and were identified as methyl 2-hydroxy-6-methoxybenzoate and its benzyl analogue, again conflicting with an earlier report. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The brinjal fruit and shoot borer, Leucinodes orbonalisis the major pest of eggplant in South Asia. Analysis of female pheromone gland extracts prepared from insects of Indian and Taiwanese origin confirmed (E)-11-hexadecenyl acetate (E11-16:Ac) as the major pheromone component with 0.8 to 2.8% of the related (E)-11-hexadecen-1-ol (E11-16:OH), as previously reported from Sri Lanka. The average quantity of E11-16:Ac extracted per female was estimated to be 33 ng, with a range of 18.9 to 46.4 ng when collected 2 to 3 hr into the scotophase. In field trials conducted in India, blends containing between 1 and 10% E11-16:OH caught more male L. orbonalisthan E11-16:Ac alone. At the 1000 μg dose, on white rubber septa, addition of 1% E11-16:OH to E11-16:Ac was found to be more attractive to male L. orbonalisthan either 0.1 or 10% E11-16:OH. Trap catch was found to be positively correlated with pheromone release rate, with the highest dose tested, 3000 μg, on white rubber septa catching more male moths than lower doses. Field and wind tunnel release rate studies confirmed that E11-16:OH released from white rubber septa and polyethylene vials at approximately twice the rate of E11-16:Ac and that the release rate of both compounds was doubled in polyethylene vials compared to white rubber septa. This difference in release rate was reflected in field trials conducted in Bangladesh where polyethylene vial dispensers caught more male moths than either black or white rubber septa, each loaded with the same 100 : 1 blend of E11-16:Ac and E11-16:OH in a 3000 μg loading.

Trapping experiments were carried out in Uganda and Indonesia with decyl (E)-2-butenoate and dodecyl (E)-2-butenoate, previously identified as components of the female sex pheromones of the African species of sweetpotato weevil, Cylas puncticollisand C. brunneus, respectively. In Uganda, decyl (E)-2-butenoate attracted only C. puncticollismales, but dodecyl (E)-2-butenoate attracted males of both C. brunneusand C. puncticollis.Catches of C. puncticolliswith both compounds were higher when they were dispensed from polyethylene vials rather than rubber septa, while dodecyl (E)-2-butenoate dispensed from rubber septa gave higher catches of C. brunneusand was more selective for this species. Release rates of the two compounds from the two types of dispenser were measured in the laboratory and possible explanations for differences in dispenser performance considered. Lures containing decyl (E)-2-butenoate were as attactive to male C. puncticollisas 10 live virgin female C. puncticollisweevils, but lures containing dodecyl (E)-2-butenoate were not always as attractive to male C. brunneusas the conspecific virgin female weevils. Dose–response relationships with the synthetic pheromones varied between repeat experiments and with the type of dispenser. Addition of dodecyl (E)-2-butenoate to decyl (E)-2-butenoate either did not affect or increased catches of C. puncticollismales, but adding 1% or more of decyl (E)-2-butenoate to dodecyl (E)-2-butenoate significantly reduced attractiveness to C. brunneus.Traps baited with synthetic lures captured male C. brunneusweevils mostly early in the evening while the majority of male C. puncticolliswere trapped between 01:00 hr and 03:00 hr. This clear temporal separation of activity of males of the two species helps to ensure species specificity of mating in these sympatric species. In Indonesia, dodecyl (E)-2-butenoate but not decyl (E)-2-butenoate attracted C. formicariusmales, but this attractiveness was less than 0.4% that of the pheromone of C. formicarius, (Z)-3-dodecenyl (E)-2-butenoate.