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Quantitative estimates of the western pine beetle attractive pheromone components,exo-brevicomin, frontalin, and myrcene in nature

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Abstract

Three parameters are described for estimating the natural occurrence of chemically defined insect pheromones: (1) the rate and duration of release by the insect, (2) the density of the pheromone-emitting insect population in both time and space, and (3) dispersal and degradation rates of the chemicals. Each of these parameters, except dispersal, was estimated for a population ofDendroctonus brevicomis LeC, and its three component attractive pheromones. A single generation of 610,000 beetles, believed to comprise the entire population in a 65-km2 forest, was estimated to have released 0.78, 3.7, and 370.5 g of frontalin,exo-brevicomin, and myrcene, respectively, within a 30-day period.

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Dendroctonus brevicomis Le Conte (Coleoptera: Scolytidae).

Parts of this report were prepared for the U.S. Forest Service to accompany a future application to the Environmental Protection Agency for registration of these attractants for use in the suppression ofD. brevicomis populations. The research was supported by grants to the University of California (D.L. Wood) from the National Science Foundation/Environmental Protection Agency (NSF-6B-34718/BMS75-04223), Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Rockefeller Foundation. The findings, opinions, and recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily those of these institutions.

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Browne, L.E., Wood, D.L., Bedard, W.D. et al. Quantitative estimates of the western pine beetle attractive pheromone components,exo-brevicomin, frontalin, and myrcene in nature. J Chem Ecol 5, 397–414 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00987925

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00987925

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