Eb. Jang et al., Field attraction of mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) to synthetic stereoselective enantiomers of the ceralure B1 isomer, J CHEM ECOL, 27(2), 2001, pp. 235-242
Stereoselectively synthesized enantiomers of ethyl cis-5-iodo-trans-2-methy
lcyclohexane-1-carboxylate (ceralure B1). a potent lure for male Mediterran
ean fruit flies, were tested in the laboratory and the field against labora
tory reared sterile flies. The (-)-ceralure B1 enantiomer was significantly
more attractive than the (+)-ceralure B1 antipode. Dose-response studies o
f the above compounds demonstrated that (-)-ceralure B1 and to a lesser ext
ent, racemic ceralure B1, captured consistently more male flies than trimed
lure, the current male attractant used in detection programs. Longevity tes
ts demonstrated that, over a three-week period, both (-)-ceralure B1 and ra
cemic ceralure B1 caught significantly more flies than trimedlure. The synt
hesis of specific enantiomers of ceralure B1 shows great promise as a male
attractant that could replace trimedlure for detection and delimitation in
action programs aimed at this exotic pest.