The mandarin orange or portugal, Citrus reticulata (Blanco), is unattractive as a forage material for the leaf-cutting ant, Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) while pineapple orange, Citrus sinensis (L.), is quite attractive. Lipid and non-lipid components were separated from portugal whole leaf extracts. Bioassays revealed the lipid fraction to be less attractive to the ants. This fraction was further separated using preparative layer chromatography into polar and non-polar lipid constituents. Two non-polar lipid fractions, Rf 0.5–0.7 and Rf 0.7–1.0, were shown to be the most deterrent constituents of portugal leaves to A. octospinosus.
