Abstract
In a previous study of the sex pheromone of the lesser date moth, Batrachedra amydraula, using laboratory females, (Z4,Z7)-4,7-decadien-1-yl acetate, Z4-decen-1-yl acetate, Z5-decen-1-yl acetate and decyl acetate were identified by sequential SPME-GC/MS analysis. Traces of Z5-decen-1-ol were detected only in airborne collections. Concomitant field tests and re-evaluation of the composition of the sex pheromone of B. amydraula with feral female moths, using an improved sequential SPME-GC/MS procedure revealed a complex mixture of candidate pheromonal compounds. The same unsaturated acetates and the corresponding alcohols: (Z4,Z7)-4,7-decadien-1-ol, Z4-decen-1-ol, Z5-decen-1-ol were positively identified. In addition, the corresponding aldehydes, octanol and octyl acetate were also detected. All compounds were found to be released in a circadian rhythm, in a narrow time window of 2 h, approximately 1 h before sunrise. Comprehensive field bioassays indicated that the optimal attractive blend is a three-component mixture of (Z4,Z7)-4,7-decadien-1-yl acetate, Z5-decen-1-yl acetate and Z5-decen-1-ol in a ratio of 1:2:2. This blend gave about fivefold higher trap catch of B. amydraula males as compared to the previously published binary blend of (Z4,Z7)-4,7-decadien-1-yl acetate and Z5-decen-1-yl acetate in a ratio of 1:2. The alcohol Z5-decen-1-ol is an essential synergistic component of the sex pheromone of B. amydraula. All other identified compounds are inert, being neither synergists nor inhibitors of the pheromone. The optimal pheromone blend will be a useful tool in monitoring and control of B. amydraula, which is a serious pest of date plantations throughout the Middle East and northern Africa.
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Acknowledgments
The study was supported mainly by the Southern Arava R & D and partially by Hadiklaim, Israel Date Growers Cooperative Ltd. We would like to thank the date growers of Neot-Smadar, Yahel and Yotvata Kibbutzim, in the south Arava, for allowing us to conduct our experiments in their orchards. We thank Mrs Valeriya Seplyarsky of Plant Protection and Inspection Services, Israel Ministry of Agriculture, for her taxonomic examination of the captured moths. Special thanks are due Dr. Ezra Dunkelblum for his valuable advice during the project.
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Levi-Zada, A., Sadowsky, A., Dobrinin, S. et al. Reevaluation of the sex pheromone of the lesser date moth, Batrachedra amydraula, using autosampling SPME-GC/MS and field bioassays. Chemoecology 23, 13–20 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-012-0115-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-012-0115-9