Short‐chain alkanes synergise responses of moth pests to their sex pheromones

Abstract

The findings show the promise of using short-chain alkanes as pheromone synergists for mating disruption of insect pests of food crops. Alkane-pheromone combinations are expected to increase the competitiveness of dispensers with females, and to reduce the amount of pheromone needed for the control of these pests.

A Challenge for a Male Noctuid Moth? Discerning the Female Sex Pheromone against the Background of Plant Volatiles

“…For example, in the corn earworm Helicoverpa zea , simultaneous application of plant odorants with the major sex pheromone component of the moth increases the firing rate of pheromone-responsive OSNs in males, although those neurons do not respond to stimulation with plant odorants separately (Ochieng et al, 2002 ). Moreover, in beetles (Nakamuta et al, 1997 ) and many lepidopteran species (Dickens et al, 1993 ; Light et al, 1993 ; Reddy and Guerrero, 2000 ; Deng et al, 2004 ; Namiki et al, 2008 ; Schmidt-Büsser et al, 2009 ; Gurba and Guerin, 2015 ) the behavioral response is also increased when plant compounds are combined with the corresponding pheromone components. In contrast, a variety of studies demonstrated that pheromone detection can also be inhibited by interactions with plant odorants (Den Otter et al, 1978 ; Kaissling and Bestmann, 1989 ; Pophof and Van Der Goes Van Naters, 2002 ; Party et al, 2009 , 2013 ; Hillier and Vickers, 2011 ; Chaffiol et al, 2012 ; Deisig et al, 2012 ; Pregitzer et al, 2012 ; Hatano et al, 2015 ).…”