SEX PHEROMONE COMPONENTS OF THE TOMATO FRUIT SMALLBORER
NEOLEUCINODES ELEGANTALIS GUENEE (LEPIDOPTERA:PYRALIDAE).

Aivle Cabrera¹, Alvaro Eiras², Gerhard Gries³,Regine Gries³ and Klaus Jaffe^1
1Lab. de Comportamiento, Dpto. de Biologia de Organismos,
Universidad Simon Bolivar, Apartado 89000, Caracas 1080-A, VENEZUELA
²Setor de Semioquímicos, Laboratorio de Proteçaode Plantas, CCTA
Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense (UENF), Campos, RJ 28045-620,BRAZIL
³Centre for Pest Management, Department of Biological Sciences
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, CANADA

The tomato fruit small borer Neoleucinodes elegantalis Guenée(Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is a serious pest in tomato crops in many countriesof Central and South America, including some Caribbean Islands. Coupledgas chromatographic - electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) of extractsfrom abdominal tips of female moths, revealed six EAD-active compounds,being (E)11-hexadecenol (E11-16:OH) the most abundant component and theone that elicited the greatest electroantennographic response. There werealso EAD-active: (Z)11-hexadecenol (Z11-16:OH), (E)11-hexadecenyl acetate(E11-16:OAc) and (E)11-hexadecenal (E11-16:Ald). They were identified usingKovats retention index calculations, GC-EAD analysis of the synthetic standardsand also, with the exception of E11-16:Ald, using electron impact gas chromatographic- mass spectrometric (GC-MS) analysis. The fifth EAD-active compound hasbeen tentatively identified as a triunsaturated long-chain hydrocarbon,an unusual EAD-active compound in Pyralidae. EI-mass spectrum and retentionindex calculations of this compound support this hypothesis. We are nowsynthesizing it order to test the EAG- and field- activity. One componentstill remains unknown. Field tests indicate that only pure E11-16:OH isactive. Addition of small amounts of Z11-16:OH, reduces catches significantly.