Sex Pheromones of Lepidoptera. XXXII. Disruption of Intraspecific Pheromone Communication in Various Species of Lepidoptera by Permeation of the Air with Looplure or Hexalure

TLDR: Experiments were conducted with 10 species representing 4 families of Lepidoptera to evaluate looplure, the sex pheromone of Trichoplusia ni, and hexalure, an attractant for males of Pectinophora gossypiella, as agents for the disruption of sex phersomone communication.

Abstract: Experiments were conducted with 10 species representing 4 families of Lepidoptera to evaluate looplure ((Z)-7-dodecen-1-ol acetate, the sex pheromone of Trichoplusia ni (Hubner)) and hexalure ((Z)-7-hexadecen-1-ol acetate, an attractant for males of Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders)) as agents for the disruption of sex pheromone communication. The species studied were: family Noctuidae— T. ni, Pseudoplusia includens Walker, Autographa californica (Speyer), Heliothis zea (Boddie), H. virescens (F.), Spodoptera exigua (Hubner) and S. ornithogalli Guenee; family Lyonetiidae— Bucculatrix thurberiella Busck; family Tortricidae— Platynota stultana Walsingham: and family Gelechiidae—P. gossypiella. Males of T. ni, A. californica , and P. includens were completely prevented from orienting to their respective pheromone releasing females in field plots containing high levels of looplure. Under these conditions, a high percentage of disruption of intraspecific pheromone communication also occurred between males and females of H. zea, H. virescens, S. ornithogalli , and P. gossypiella . Similarly, when hexalure was released into the atomsphere, a disruption of communication between males and females of several of these species was obtained.