Abstract
The yellow-legged clearwing (YLC) Synanthedon vespiformis (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) occurs in the Mediterranean and central Europe. It is polyphagous, boring into the woody parts of broadleaf species including forest trees as well as various Rosaceae species. S. vespiformis has been reported as an economically important pest causing severe injury to stone fruit plantations. Many attractants for sesiid species were discovered by random field screening using 2,13- and 3,13-octadecadienyl alcohols, acetates and aldehydes, including one for S. vespiformis; and about 20 sex pheromones of sesiids have been identified so far. In the present study we identified the natural composition of the sex pheromone of YLC laboratory reared females as a blend of E3,Z13- and Z3,Z13-octadecadienyl acetates, at a ratio of 4:1. We developed an efficient lure for monitoring the pest. Pheromone funnel traps with rubber septa, impregnated with 1 mg pheromone blend, efficiently captured males for 10 weeks. Suspension of Shin-Etsu® ropes containing a 2:1 blend of E3,Z13-18:Ac and Z3,Z13-18:Ac at 13.74 mg/ha/h, resulted in shutdown of trap catches in the treated plots and closely situated neighboring plots indicating that mating disruption is feasible.
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Acknowledgments
The study was supported by the Chief Scientist Grant No. 131-1443. We would like to thank Dr. Franz Pühringer (Konrad, Austria) and Prof. Zdeněk Laštůvka (Mendel University, Brno, Czech Republic) for the identification of Synanthedon vespiformis. We thank Dr. Ogawa at Shin-Etsu Chemical Company for providing the pheromones ropes for mating disruption and Prof. Tetsu Ando of Tokyo University for the octadecadienyl acetates standards. We also would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable contribution in the improvement of the manuscript.
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Levi-Zada, A., Ben-Yehuda, S., Dunkelblum, E. et al. Identification and field bioassays of the sex pheromone of the yellow-legged clearwing Synanthedon vespiformis (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae). Chemoecology 21, 227–233 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-011-0081-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-011-0081-7