1Department of Biological Organic Chemistry, Institute of Chemical and Environmental Research of Barcelona (CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
2INRA Unité de Phytopharmacie et Médiateurs Chimiques, Route de St. Cyr, 78026 Versailles Cedex, France.
In a wind tunnel trifluoromethyl ketones (TFMKs) have been found to disrupt the orientation flight of male moths to pheromone sources (virgin females or synthetic pheromone). This is demonstrated by comparison of the flight parameters of the Egyptian armyworm Spodoptera littoralis and the Mediterranean corn borer Sesamia nonagrioides, which had been topically treated with some TFMKs, with those calculated for untreated insects. Inhibition occurred in all types of behavior and that of the source contact has been quantified and found to be dose-dependent. The same effect has also been noticed in Mediterranean corn borer males flying to an attraction source consisting of mixtures of (Z)-11-hexadecenyl trifluoromethyl ketone, a closely related analogue of the major component of the pheromone, and the natural pheromone blend. The most active TFMKs are those mostly close in structure to that of the natural pheromone, along with those chemicals which easily hydrate in solution, like the b -thiosubstituted derivatives. Along with the previously reported reduction of catches in the field promoted by some TFMKs (Parrilla, A. and Guerrero, A. Chem. Senses, 19: 1-10 (1994); Riba, M., Eizaguirre, M., Sans, A., Quero, C. and Guerrero, A. Pest. Sci., 41: 97-103 (1994)), our results suggest the possible application of these chemicals in future new pest control strategies.