Insect pheromones, chemistry

The last review of insect pheromone chemistry in this series was by Eiter in 1970 (8). Since then, a number of other reviews have been published in the form of books (9—16) or review articles (77—21). 

Pheromones, especially insect pheromones, have become common news stories in the popular press and hence are well known to most people. For instance, most elementary schools in the USA now include coverage of pheromones in general science and biology courses. Concomitant with this widespread coverage and inclusion in elementary school curricula is ongoing basic and applied research, which leads to important practical uses and beneficial applications. Since Butenandt s initial report on the pheromone of the silk worm moth, there have been many reviews of pheromones and recent ones are cited here. This review of the chemistry of insect pheromones will cover the isolation and identification of new pheromones and the synthesis of these compounds as well as other recently reported syntheses of important pheromones. 

Blomquist, G. J., Tillman-Wall, J. A., Guo, L., Quilici, D. R., Gu, P. and Schal, C. (1993). Hydrocarbon and hydrocarbon-derived sex pheromones in insects biochemistry and endocrine regulation. In Insect Lipids Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biology, eds. 

As in most Lepidoptera, spruce budworm males locate conspecific females by flying upwind along a pheromone plume. The blends and release rates of these pheromone components form an important part of a specific communication system for the species. Once the communication system of an insect is understood, especially the pheromone chemistry as it relates to male behavior, it can be used in a variety of ways. For example, pheromones can be used to detect the presence of an insect in an area, to remove males from a population by trapping or poisoning and in air-permeation techniques in which the controlled and continuous release of pheromone components in the forest can disrupt mating. The latter use of pheromones appears to alter the normal male behavioral responses to the natural pheromone (16). 

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