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Title: SEX PHEROMONE OF THE RUSSIAN GYPSY MOTH, (LYMANTRIA MATHURA MOORE)

Author
item Oliver, James
item Dickens, Joseph
item ZLOTINA, MARINA - APHIS
item MASTRO, VICTOR - APHIS

Submitted to: Journal of Chemical Ecology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/4/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The Russian gypsy moth, Lymantria mathura Moore, inhabits forests of eastern Russia and is a threat to invade the United States by virtue of its ability to deposit eggs on ships docked in Russian harbors or on shipping containers awaiting loading. Both sexes of the insect are capable of flight, so undetected eggs hatching in transit to the United States would provide the potential for an infestation in this country. We have identified and synthesized this insect's sex pheromone; this pheromone will be employed in traps for monitoring populations in the Russian Far East, and for detecting possible infestations in this country. Benefits will include an additional weapon in the arsenal against insect invasion and will be employed by the United States forest industry and the shipping industries of both the United States and Russia.

Technical Abstract: Two electrophysiologically active compounds have been isolated and identified from abdominal tip extracts of female Lymantria mathura (L.): Z,Z,Z-3,6,9-nonadecatriene 1 and its monoepoxide Z,Z-((S,10R)-9,10-epoxy -3,6-nonadecadiene 4a. This type of pheromone system, unusual for a Lymantriidae, is more typical of those found in the families Arctiidae, Noctuidae and Geometridae.