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EXTRACTION AND BIOASSAY OF FEMALE SEX PHEROMONE OF WHITE-MARKED TUSSOCK MOTH, ORGYIA LEUCOSTIGMA (LEPIDOPTERA: LYMANTRIIDAE)1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

G. G. Grant
G. G. Grant
Affiliation:
Insect Pathology Research Institute, Canadian Forestry Service, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
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Abstract

Factors affecting the extraction and bioassay of the sex pheromone of white-marked tussock moths were evaluated. Dipping the female pheromone glands in a solvent (preferably hexane) to produce a wash containing active material was a particularly effective and reproducible method of obtaining a potent extract. These were most active if obtained from virgin females < 2 days old. Extracts from recently mated females were only slightly less active than those from virgin females. Males were most responsive in bioassays when 2 to 3 days old. The maximum percentage response of males was obtained at 1 × 10−4 FE (female equivalents); beyond this concentration the percentage response decreased. Characteristically, extracts lost their potency within 1–3 weeks of preparation. It is suggested that either an inhibitor or loss of a chemical component of the sex pheromone causes an extract to become inactive.

Résumé

L’auteur évalua sur la Chenille à houppes blanches les facteurs affectant l’extraction et le bio-essai de la phéromone sexuelle d’individus striés de blanc. Le trempage de glandes femelles à phéromone dans un solvant (préférablement de l’hexane) afin de produire une mixture contenant du matériel actif s’avéra une méthode efficace et répétable d’obtenir l’extrait actif. Celui-ci fut le plus actif lorsque obtenu de femelles vierges de deux jours ou moins. Les extraits provenant de femelles récemment accouplées étaient légèrement moins actifs. Les mâles produisaient le plus lors de bio-essais lorsque âgés de 2 à 3 jours. Le pourcentage de rendement maximal des mâles fut obtenu à 1 × 10−4 EF (équivalents en femelles); passé cette concentration, le pourcentage de rendement diminua Une à trois semaines après leur préparation l’activité des extraits diminua de façon caractéristique. Ceci est probablement causé par un inhibiteur ou par le perte d’un composant chimique de la phéromone sexuelle.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 107 , Issue 3 , March 1975 , pp. 303 - 309
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1975

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