Sweetpotato weevil pheromone analogue
2009
Anon.
The sweetpotato weevils, Cylas spp., are considered the most serious insect pests of sweetpotato and threats to sweetpotato production worldwide. While these are effectively controlled using sex pheromone by mass trapping adult male weevils, these synthetic pheromones are relatively expensive. To develop cheaper, effective pheromone analogues for weevil control, Vasquez (Philippine Root Crop Research and Training Center, Visayas State University, Baybay, Leyte, Philippines) studied the dose-reponse and structure-activity relationship of the pheromones and their precussors on male weevils as well as the identity of other compounds present in the pheromone of gland of virgin female weevils. (Z)-3-dodecyl-(E)-2-butenoate 9sex pheromone of C. brunneus) and decyl (E)-2-butenoate(sex pheromone of C. formicarius) elicited mating stimulus of male weevils at a low dose of 1 micro g and 10-100 folds for dodecyl (E)-2-butenoate (sex pheromone of C. puncticollis). The precursors (Z)-3- dodecyl-1-ol and trans-crotonic acid functioned as sex stimulant and dodecan-1-ol as aggregation compound. Oleyl crotonate and linoleyl crotonate were developed as potential synthetic sweetpotato weevil pheromone analogues. Both pheromone analogues contained the functional moieties responsible for the attraction of the natural sex pheromone to male weevils, which were the cis-double bond in the aliphatic chain and crotonate ester. Linoleyl crotonate was found more active than oleyl crotonate, however, both pheromone analogues had lower attraction to male sweetpotato weevils compared with (Z)-3-dodecyl-(E)-2-butenoate (standard check) which can be attributed to their physico-chemical properties.
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