Summary.
Our objective was to identify sex pheromone components of the oak processionary moth, Thaumetopoea processionea (Lepidoptera: Thaumetopoeidae), whose larvae defoliate oak, Quercus spp., forests in Eurasia and impact human health. Coupled gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) and GC-mass spectrometric (MS) analyses of pheromone gland extract of female T. processionea revealed two consistently EAD-active compounds. They were identified as (Z,Z)-11,13-hexadecadienyl acetate (Z11,Z13-16:OAc) and (Z,E)-11,13,15-hexadecatrienyl acetate (Z11,E13,15-16:OAc) by comparative GC, GC-MS and GC-EAD analyses of insect-produced compounds and authentic standards. In replicated field experiments (2000, 2001) in Nordbaden, Südbaden and Sachsen-Anhalt (Germany), Z11,Z13-16:OAc and Z11,E13,15-16:OAc in combination, but not singly, attracted significant numbers of male moths. It will now be intriguing to investigate whether Z11,E13,15-16:OAc, or its corresponding alcohol or aldehyde, serves as a pheromone component also in other species of the Thaumetopoeidae.
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Gries, R., Reckziegel, A., Bogenschütz, H. et al. (Z,Z)-11,13-Hexadecadienyl acetate and (Z,E)-11,13,15-hexadecatrienyl acetate: synergistic sex pheromone components of oak processionary moth, Thaumetopoea processionea (Lepidoptera: Thaumetopoeidae). Chemoecology 14, 95–100 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-003-0266-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-003-0266-9