(E)-10-hexadecenal, a sex pheromone component of the yellow peach moth, dichocrocis punctiferalis Guenée (lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

A sex pheromone of the fruit-feeding type of yellow peach moth, Dichocrocis punctif eralis GUENÉE, was detected in the female abdominal tip extracts and identified as (E)-10-hexadecenal by means of gas liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, ozonolysis and electroantennography. In laboratory male-trapping tests, the synthetic compound showed a significant attractiveness, and 10 ng was equivalent to one live virgin female in attractiveness to the males. In field tests, however, traps baited with this compound alone caught only a few males, but a mixture of (E)- and (Z)-10-hexadecenal at a ratio of 9 : 1 caught 4 times as many. (Z)-10-hexadecenal was therefore suggested to be a minor component of the sex pheromone of D. punctif eralis. Males of the Pinaceae-leaf-feeding type of D. punctiferalis were also captured by traps baited with the mixture at ratios of 9 : 1 and 8:2. Further, males of D. chlorophanta (Pyralidae) were also captured in traps baited with (E)-10-hexadecenal alone.