A sex pheromone component novel to Ostrinia identified from Ostrinia latipennis (Lepidoptera : Crambidae)

Extracts from the sex pheromone gland of Ostrinia latipennis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) were analyzed by gas chromatography-electroantennographic detect ion (GC-EAD) and GC-mass spectrometry. Only an EAD-active compound was dete cted in the extract, and it was identified as (E)-11-tetradecenol (E11-14:O H). In a wind-tunnel bioassay, E11-14:OH elicited a series of mate finding behaviors from males, although it was far less active than virgin females a nd crude extract of the pheromone gland. The attractiveness of E11-14:OH to O. latipennis males was confirmed by field trapping experiments. Based on these findings, we concluded that E11-14:OH, which is novel to the genus Os trinia, is a major component of the sex pheromone in O. latipennis. The sig nificance of the use of alcohol in place of the usual acetates in Ostrinia is discussed in relation to the pheromone biosynthesis system.