Chemical, electrophysiological, and behavioral investigations on the sex pheromone of lackey moth, Malacosoma neustrium.
The lackey moth Malacosoma neustrium (L.) (Lepidoptera Lasiocampidae) is a common pest of many forest and cultivated broadleaf trees. Analysis by GC-EAD of gland extracts and female effluvia showed the presence of two active peaks that were characterized as (E,Z)-5,7-dodecadienal (E5,Z7-12:Ald) and (E,Z)-5,7-dodecadienol (E5,Z7-12:OH) according to their GC retention times, mass spectra, and electroantennographic activity. (E,Z)-5,7-dodecadienyl acetate (E5,Z7-12:Ac) was also detected in the gland extracts. The average amounts of E5,Z7-12:Ald, E5,Z7-12:OH, and E5,Z7-12:Ac extracted from an abdominal tip were 113.2 +/- 22.0 ng, 29.9 +/- 6.2 ng, and 11.6 +/- 2.0 ng, respectively. In the effluvia from single females, on the average, 1.9 +/- 0.7 ng/min of aldehyde and 0.3 +/- 0.1 ng/min of alcohol were collected. In wind tunnel tests, male behavioral sequences elicited by E5,Z7-12:Ald alone or in 3:1 and 9:1 blends with the corresponding alcohol were similar to those evoked by one female equivalent of sex pheromone gland extract. Field trapping experiments showed that E5,Z7-12:Ald is essential to attract male moths. On adding E5,Z7-12:OH to E5,Z7-12:Ald in 1:3 and 1:9 ratios, male attraction slightly increased whereas in a 1:1 ratio, the attractiveness of E5,Z7-12:Ald was reduced.
Rotundo
Giuseppe
G
Department of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Molise, Via De Sanctis, 86100 Campobasso, Italy. rotundo@unimol.it
Germinara
Giacinto Salvatore
GS
de Cristofaro
Antonio
A
D000085:Acetates / Q000494:pharmacology; D000447:Aldehydes / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008297:Male; D009036:Moths / Q000737:chemistry*; D012621:Seasons; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
D000085:Acetates; D000447:Aldehydes; D012724:Sex Attractants