Identification and synthesis of the sex pheromone of the Madeira mealybug, Phenacoccus madeirensis Green.

Hsiao-Yung Ho, Yu-Ting Su, Chi-Hung Ko, Ming-Yu Tsai

Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, 11526, Republic of China. shine@gate.sinica.edu.tw

Journal of chemical ecology 2009 Jun

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Two components were identified from aeration extracts of the virgin female Madeira mealybug, Phenacoccus madeirensis as trans-(1R,3R)-chrysanthemyl (R)-2-methylbutanoate and (R)-lavandulyl (R)-2-methylbutanoate (with a ratio of 3:1) by a combination of gas chromatography retention time matches, mass spectrometry, and microchemical tests. The structures and chirality of the compounds were confirmed by comparing with synthetic compounds. The synthetic trans-(1R,3R)-chrysanthemyl (R)-2-methylbutanoate was highly attractive to males in laboratory bioassays; the synthetic (R)-lavandulyl (R)-2-methylbutanoate was weakly attractive. No synergistic effect was observed when the mixture of the two compounds was tested.

Citation

Hsiao-Yung Ho, Yu-Ting Su, Chi-Hung Ko, Ming-Yu Tsai. Identification and synthesis of the sex pheromone of the Madeira mealybug, Phenacoccus madeirensis Green. Journal of chemical ecology. 2009 Jun;35(6):724-32