Summary
The sex pheromone of the grain aphid,Sitobion avenae (Fab.), is identified as (4aS,7S,7aR)-nepetalactone, for which specific olfactory cells are located in the secondary rhinaria of the male antenna. The related (1R,4aS,7S,7aR)-nepetalactol was not produced by females in significant amounts (ca 10,000-fold less than the nepetalactone), although cells in the male antenna were found that responded specifically to this compound. Behavioural activity in the linear track ol-factometer showed attraction of males to the nepetalactone, but not to the nepetalactol.
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Lilley, R., Hardie, J., Merritt, L.A. et al. The sex pheromone of the grain aphid,Sitobion avenae (Fab.) (Homoptera, Aphididae). Chemoecology 5, 43–46 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01259972
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01259972