Abstract
The sex pheromone of the mealybug, Planococcus minor was isolated by fractionation of crude pheromone extract obtained by aeration of virgin females. The pheromone was identified as the irregular terpenoid, 2-isopropyl-5-methyl-2,4-hexadienyl acetate, by mass spectrometry, microchemical tests, and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The stereochemistry of the pheromone was assigned as (E) by comparison with synthetic standards of known geometry. The compound was highly attractive to males in laboratory bioassays, whereas the (Z)-isomer appeared to antagonize attraction.
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Acknowledgment
The authors thank Penny Gullan of the University of California, Davis for preliminary identification of the species and Doug Miller and his colleagues at the US Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Maryland, USA for confirming the species identity. The authors thank Jocelyn Millar of the University of California, Riverside for suggestions on the synthesis of the pheromones.
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Ho, HY., Hung, CC., Chuang, TH. et al. Identification and Synthesis of the Sex Pheromone of the Passionvine Mealybug, Planococcus minor (Maskell). J Chem Ecol 33, 1986–1996 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-007-9361-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-007-9361-7