Specificity of Nun and Gypsy Moth Sexual Communication Through Multiple-Component Pheromone Blends

摘要

The nun moth [NM; Lymantria monacha (L.)] in Europe and the gypsy moth [GM; L. dispar (L.)] in Europe and North America are most important defoliators of coniferous and decidious forests, respectively. For sexual communication GM and NM females produce the pheromone disparlure; NM and GM males respond to the ( + )-disparlure enantiomer [(7R, 8S)-cis-7,8-epoxy-2-methylocta-decane] as a single attractive but unspecific pheromone component. Reanalysis of female NM sex pheromone extract by gas chromato-graphic-electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD; Fig. 1), and field tests of candidate pheromone components revealed a multiple-component NM sex pheromone.