STUDY OF BIOPOLYMERS AND PARAFFIN AS POTENTIAL CONTROLLED-RELEASE CARRIERS FOR INSECT PHEROMONES

Starch, whey, and soy proteins and paraffin wax were tested as potenti al controlled-release carriers for insect sex pheromones used for mati ng disruption of orchard pests. Geranyl propionate was used as a model pheromone in preliminary experiments. Geranyl propionate and Oriental fruit moth pheromone release-rates from various carrier materials wer e measured in laboratory experiments by extraction of residual pheromo ne from biopolymer films and by trapping pheromone released from carri er materials into an air stream using Super Q traps. The carrier mater ials could be applied to tree bark or foliage at ambient temperature a s aqueous emulsions. After drying, the film or coating would release t he entrapped pheromone, then slowly erode from the bark, and degrade i n soil. Paraffin performed better than starch or protein as a controll ed-release carrier for the compounds studied because of better initial entrapment and a more constant release-rate.