Use of mixture designs to investigate contribution of minor sex pheromone components to trap catch of the carpenterworm moth, Chilecomadia valdiviana

Authors: Lapointe, Stephen; BARROS-PARADA, WILSON - University Of Talca; FUENTES-CONTRERAS, EDUARDO - University Of Talca; HERRERA, HEIDY - Pontifical Catholic University Of Valparaiso; KINSHO, TAKESHI - Ajinomoto Company, Inc; MIYAKE, YUKI - Ajinomoto Company, Inc; Niedz, Randall; BERGMANN, JAN - Pontifical Catholic University Of Valparaiso

Submitted to: Journal of Chemical Ecology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/9/2017
Publication Date: 11/22/2017
Citation: Lapointe, S.L., Barros-Parada, W., Fuentes-Contreras, E., Herrera, H., Kinsho, T., Miyake, Y., Niedz, R.P., Bergmann, J. 2017. Use of mixture designs to investigate contribution of minor sex pheromone components to trap catch of the carpenterworm moth, Chilecomadia valdiviana. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 43(11-12):1046-1055. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-017-0906-0.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-017-0906-0

Interpretive Summary: The carpenterworm is causing increasing levels of damage in tree and fruit crops in Chile. The larvae of this moth burrow into the wood causing direct damage and facilitate the entry of fungal diseases that reduce productivity, the value of the wood and can lead to tree death. Previous work on this species identified 5 chemicals (one major and 4 minor compounds) produced by the female moth in her pheromone glands. The major compound appeared to be the principle attractant of male moths of this species. We conducted research and determined that the major compound is the only male attractant operating in this species. This pheromone can be used to attract and kill the males and may be used to confuse the males to prevent mating, thereby reducing their populations without using toxic insecticides.

Technical Abstract: Five compounds previously identified from the female pheromone gland of the carpenterworm Chilecomadia valdiviana, a pest of tree and fruit crops in Chile, South America, were studied in field experiments. Previously, attraction of males by the major component was readily demonstrated while the role of the minor components was indeterminate. We used a mixture design to study the potential contribution of the four minor pheromone components to trap catch in field experiments. After systematically exploring the design space described by the 5 pheromone components, we conclude that the major pheromone component, (7Z,10Z)-7,10-hexadecadienal, is the single compound responsible for attraction of male moths in this species. The statistical problem of appropriate experiment design for addressing the problem of mixtures in chemical ecology is described. We present an analysis of mixture designs and response surface modeling and an explanation of why this approach is superior to commonly used but statistically inappropriate designs.