Co-Authors:
Nesbitt, B.F., Tropical Products Institute, 56-62 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8LU England, United Kingdom
Beevor, P.S., Tropical Products Institute, 56-62 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8LU England, United Kingdom
Hall, D.R., Tropical Products Institute, 56-62 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8LU England, United Kingdom
Lester, R., Tropical Products Institute, 56-62 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8LU England, United Kingdom
Sternlicht, M., Division of Entomology, Agricultural Research Organisation, The Volcani Centre, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, Israel
Goldenberg, S., Division of Entomology, Agricultural Research Organisation, The Volcani Centre, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, Israel
Abstract:
The female sex pheromone of the citrus flower moth, Prays citri, has been identified as (Z)-7-tetradecenal. The unusually small amounts of pheromone which could be extracted from the female moth precluded identification by classical methods. Instead, the basic structure of the pheromone was deduced from its gas chromatographic (GC) behaviour using a male moth prepared for electroantennographic (EAG) recording as detector; double bond position and geometry were determined by high resolution GC of the natural pheromone and a range of tetradecenal isomers, and by recording male moth EAG responses to these isomers. Synthetic (Z)-7-tetradecenal was shown to be highly attractive to male Prays citri when tested in citrus groves in Israel. This is the first reported identification of the female sex pheromone of a member of the Yponomeutidae. © 1977.