Aggregation pheromone system of adult gregarious desert locust schistocerca gregaria (forskal)

Six electrophysiologically active aromatic compounds, viz., anisole, benzaldehyde, veratrole, guaiacol, phenylacetonitrile, and phenol, were identified in the volatiles of older-adult male desert locust. Young adults and females of all age groups produced none or only trace quantities of these compounds. Comparison of the aggregation responses of young and older adults to the crude, older-adult, volatile extract and different synthetic blends of the six compounds showed that the aggregation pheromone system of the adult gregarious locust consists of phenylacetonitrile, guaiacol, phenol, and benzaldehyde. Like the crude volatile extract of older males, neither the synthetic blend of the six compounds nor the adult pheromone blend evoked any significant aggregation responses from nymphs. These results confirm our previous report of sexual differentiation in the production of adult aggregation pheromone in the desert locust and of the evidence of two distinct aggregation pheromone systems in the two stages of the insect.     

Semiochemical attractants ofDiabrotica undecimpunctata howardi barber,southern corn rootworm,andDiabrotica virgifera virgifera leconte,the western corn rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

During the summers of 1984 and 1985, a variety of structurally related benzenoid compounds was evaluated in sweet corn plots as attractants for adult southern corn rootworms (SCR), western com rootworms (WCR), and northern corn rootworms (NCR). Field response to the volatiles was measured by beetle counts on baited cylindrical sticky traps placed inside the corn plots at a height of l m above ground level. SCR adults were attracted late in the season (last week of August through September, 1984 and 1985) to numerous aromatic compounds, including phenylacetaldehyde, benzyl acetone, phenethyl alcohol, phenyl acetate, indole, veratrole, methyl eugenol, methyl isoeugenol, eugenol, and isoeugenol. Although many compounds attracted SCR adults late in the season, only veratrole, phenylacetaldehyde, and chavicol were significantly active in early and middle August 1985. WCR adults were attracted to a different group of compounds, namely estragole,trans-anethole, and indole. Estragole (4-methoxy-1-allylbenzene) was an effective WCR attractant from corn tasseling in early August 1985, until the end of the trapping period in late September and early October 1985. Indole andtrans-anethole (4-methoxy-1-propenylbenzene) were less effective attractants than estragole and were most active at the beginning and/or end of the corn season. Traps baited with 100 mg of estragole caught an average of 20 times more WCR adults than unbaited control traps, and the females outnumbered the males in the baited traps. Estragole dosage tests were conducted in three sweet corn plots on different dates in 1985 and the minimum effective dose ranged between 5 and 30 mg/trap. Field tests with structural analogs revealed the importance of the site of unsaturation in the allylic side chain of estragole and the effect of different ring substituents on WCR response. The phenylpropanoids, eugenol and isoeugenol, significantly attracted NCR adults, even though these beetles were in low abundance in the test corn plots. Field tests indicate there is no cross-species response by WCR and NCR adults to their related phenylpropanoid attractants. However, in late August, SCR adults do respond to some WCR and NCR attractants (indole and several eugenol analogs). Electroantennographic analysis of SCR males revealed they can perceive peripherally a wide range of benzenoid compounds.     

Composition and role of volatile substances in atmosphere surrounding two gregarious locusts,Locusta migratoria andSchistocerca gregaria

Volatile substances in the atmosphere surrounding gregarious locustsSchistocerca gregaria andLocusta migratoria were captured and investigated by combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Three aromatic derivates have been identified: phenol, guaiacol, and veratrole. Their relative percentages differ for different ages and species. Behavioral tests show that essentially phenol, guaiacol, and the mixture of the three products tend to increase the aggregation behavior in both species and thus act as cohesion pheromones.