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Identification and field evaluation of sex pheromones in two hawk moths Deilephila elpenor lewisii and Theretra oldenlandiae oldenlandiae (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)

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Abstract

The sex pheromones of two species of hawk moth, Deilephila elpenor lewisii (Butler) and Theretra oldenlandiae oldenlandiae (Fabricius), were analyzed using gas chromatography–electroantennographic detection (GC–EAD) and GC–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Two and three EAD-active components were found in D. elpenor lewisii and T. oldenlandiae oldenlandiae, respectively. GC–MS analyses using authentic compounds and extracts derivatized by dimethyl disulfide and 4-methyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione identified the two components in D. elpenor lewisii as (E)-11-hexadecenal (E11–16:Ald) and (10E,12E)-10,12-hexadecadienal (E10,E12–16:Ald), and the three in T. oldenlandiae oldenlandiae as E11–16:Ald, E10,E12–16:Ald, and (10E,12Z)-10,12-hexadecadienal (E10,Z12–16:Ald). In field-trap tests, no males of either species were attracted to any single components. Male moths of D. elpenor lewisii were specifically attracted to a binary blend of E11–16:Ald and E10,E12–16:Ald at a ratio of 85:15, whereas males of T. oldenlandiae oldenlandiae were attracted to a ternary blend of E11–16:Ald, E10,Z12–16:Ald and E10,E12–16:Ald at a ratio of 30:40:30. We therefore conclude that the sex pheromone of D. elpenor lewisii is a mixture of E11–16:Ald and E10,E12–16:Ald and that of T. oldenlandiae oldenlandiae is E11–16:Ald, E10,Z12–16:Ald and E10,E12–16:Ald.

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Acknowledgments

We thank ShinEtsu Chemical Co., Ltd. for supplying synthetic monoenyl aldehydes and Dr. DeMar Taylor for helpful improvement in the manuscript. We also thank Mr. Takahiro Yano for offering important information about rearing and field experiments in Deilephila elpenor. We are grateful to Mr. T. Morita, Ms. K. Ohbayashi, and students of the Laboratory of Applied Entomology in Faculty of Agriculture at Tottori University for their help with field experiments and rearing insects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Takuya Uehara, Shigeru Matsuyama & Hiroshi Honda

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama-Minami, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan

    Hideshi Naka

  3. Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 2-24-16 Naka-cho, Koganei, 184-8588, Japan

    Tetsu Ando

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  1. Takuya Uehara
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  2. Hideshi Naka
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  3. Shigeru Matsuyama
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  4. Tetsu Ando
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  5. Hiroshi Honda
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Correspondence to Hiroshi Honda.

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Uehara, T., Naka, H., Matsuyama, S. et al. Identification and field evaluation of sex pheromones in two hawk moths Deilephila elpenor lewisii and Theretra oldenlandiae oldenlandiae (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Appl Entomol Zool 47, 227–232 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13355-012-0111-0

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