Insect Parapheromones in Olfaction Research and Semiochemical-Based Pest Control Strategies

Abstract

The possibility of disrupting the chemical communication of insect pests has initiated the development of new semiochemicals, parapheromones, which are anthropogenic compounds structurally related to natural pheromone components. Modification at the chain and/or at the polar group, isosteric replacements, halogenation or introduction of labeled atoms have been the most common modifications of the pheromone structure. Parapheromones have shown a large variety of effects, and accordingly have been called agonists, pheromone mimics, synergists and hyperagonists, or else pheromone antagonists, antipheromones and inhibitors. Pheromone analogues have been used in quantitative structure-activity relationship studies of insect olfaction, and from a practical point of view they can replace pheromones when these are costly to prepare or unstable under field conditions.

Biorational insecticides in pest management

“…151,152) Little work in pest control has been done using pheromone antagonists. [153][154][155][156] These compounds, that alter the behavior or physiology of the insect communication system, 157) may be pheromone components of closely-related species with a sufficiently similar structure to that of the natural pheromone to bind to the pheromone receptor sites, and therefore competing with the natural attractant. 131) Successful control of the navel orangeworm Amyelois transitella 154) and the pea moth Cydia nigricana 153) has been reported using pheromone inhibitors.…”

Pheromone mating disruption offers selective management options for key pests

“…The use of antagonistic compounds, agonists, pheromone mimics and synergists is broadly grouped under the term parapheromones, loosely defined as anthropogenic compounds structurally related to natural pheromone compounds that affect the behavior or physiology of the insect's communication system (Renou and Guerrero 2000). This group includes compounds of plant origin used to annihilate (with an attractant plus a lethal agent) the males of important dipteran pests, such as bait sprays for fruit flies or walnut husk flies.…”

Effects of methyl eugenol and raspberry ketone/cue lure on the sexual behavior of Bactrocera species (Diptera: Tephritidae)

“…As noted below, the original observation that Bactrocera males are attracted to particular chemicals, termed male lures or parapheromones (Cunningham, 1989;Metcalf, 1990), was made nearly a century ago. [The term parapheromone is not used in the present paper, because neither RK nor ME conform to i) Payne et al's (1973) original definition of parapheromones as "compounds which are not naturally used in intraspecific insect communication" or ii) Renou and Guerrero's (2000) more recent definition of parapheromones as "chemical compounds of anthropogenic origin".] Based on male response to lures observed in field surveys of wild populations, Drew (1974), Drew and Hooper (1981), and Hardy (1979) classified Bactrocera species into three groups, i.e., males attracted to i) methyl eugenol (ME), ii) raspberry ketone (RK, or its man-made analogue, cue lure, CL), or iii) neither of these chemicals.…”