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In laboratory and field bioassays, the response ofDendroctonus frontalis was significantly greater to the mixture of (1S, 5R)-(-)-frontalin andalpha-pinene than to (1R,5S)-(+)-frontalin andalpfa-pinene. Electro-physiological studies revealed that antennal olfactory receptor cells were significantly more responsive to (1S, 5R)-(-)-frontalin than to (1R, 5S)-(+)-frontalin. Both enantiomers stimulated the same olfactory cells which suggests that each cell possesses at least two types of enantiomer-specific acceptors.

The response ofDendroctonus frontalis to an attractant mixture (frontalin,trans-verbenol, and loblolly pine turpentine) was measured in the laboratory over a four-year period. Beetle response was highest in late winter and early spring, and lowest in midsummer and early fall. Males consistently responded higher than females. Female beetles displayed significantly higher responses in early morning and late afternoon than in the middle of the day. Analysis of beetle pronotal width and fat content revealed a high degree of correlation between these two parameters in female beetles, but there was no correlation of response with either fat content or pronotal width for either sex. There was no evident relationship between mean monthly beetle response and total amounts of frontalin andtrans-veibenol found in hindgut extracts. Daily temperature in months both during which beetles were bioassayed and immediately prior to bioassay was highly correlated to response to the attractant.