Insects sound-producing

An interesting case is provided by sound-producing insects, such as crickets or cicadas, which reveal their presence reliably by species-specific songs (Riede, 1998). They probably have a lower biomass than vertebrates, but contribute considerably (and at dusk or night even predominantly) to the characteristic soundscape of a tropical forest, which can be deafening in the case of South East Asian cicada dusk choruses (Gogala and Riede, 1995). 

Pheromones are chemicals that are used by animals and plants for communication. Insects utilize pheromones extensively to indicate their availability for reproduction, to sound alarms, and to make known the presence of food. The use of pheromones in small amounts in traps can interfere with the reproduction of harmful insects in an environmentally friendly manner. Recently, Grubbs second-generation catalyst (24) was used to synthesize on an industrial scale the sex attractant pheromone of the peach twig borer, a pest that attacks peach, plum, nectarine, and almond crops.46 Equation 11.16 shows how Ru-catalyzed metathesis of 5-decene and l,10-diacetoxy-5-decene produces a 50% yield of E-Z mixture (the desired E-isomer predominates, and the presence of small amounts of Z-isomer does not lower the activity of the pheromone) of the desired pheromone at low temperature. The unreacted starting materials are recovered by vacuum distillation and recycled. 

SOUNDS/VIBRATIONS PRODUCED BY STORAGE INSECT PESTS... 

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