Summary
The sex attractant pheromone produced by the female of the moth Utetheisa ornatrix was shown to contain Z, Z, Z-3, 6, 9-heneicosatriene. The compound, whose structure was confirmed by synthesis, proved active in electroantennogram and field bioassays. Pheromone emission occurs discontinuously, in the form of short pulses (pulse repetition rate=1.5±0.2 pulses/s). It is argued that such temporal patterning — which had not previously been demonstrated for an airborne chemical signal — can provide close-range orientation cues to the male moth as it seeks out the female.
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Conner, W.E., Eisner, T., Vander Meer, R.K. et al. Sex attractant of an arctiid moth (Utetheisa ornatrix): A pulsed chemical signal. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 7, 55–63 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302519
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302519