Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Baits – attractants – or lures
Reexamination Certificate
1993-02-08
2002-07-02
Travers, Russell (Department: 1617)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Baits, attractants, or lures
Reexamination Certificate
active
06413508
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to compounds which synergize the behavioral responses of insects induced by their attractant pheromones. These compounds may be used in combination with pheromones and insect control measures such as toxicants or traps. The compounds also extend the life of pheromone-baited traps and decrease the amount of pheromone needed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Insect-produced volatiles, e.g., pheromones, and host plant odors, e.g., kairomones, may facilitate location of conspecifics for mating and orientation to acceptable host plants for feeding and oviposition. It is known in several insect species, especially bark beetles, that pheromones and plant odors, such as monoterpenes, may act in synergy, each enhancing the attraction of the other [Borden, in
Insect Communication
, ed. T. Lewis, Academic Press, NY, page 123 (1984)]. For example, response of
Dendroctonus brevicomis
Lec. to its aggregation pheromone is enhanced by the host monoterpene, myrcene [Bedard et al., Science 164: 1284-1285 (1969)]. Response of the boll weevil to its pheromone is enhanced by a mixture of five monoterpenes [Chang et al., Southwest. Entomol. 11: 233-241 (1986)]. The tripartite blend of a host monoterpene and two component aggregation pheromone used in chemoorientation by
D. brevicomis
was thought to increase specificity of the pheromone respone [Birch, in
Chemical Ecology of Insects
, eds. W. J. Bell and R. T. Carde, Chapman and Hall Ltd., London, pages 331-353, (1984)].
Green leaf volatiles, six-carbon alcohols and aldehydes (e.g., 1-hexanol, trans-2-hexen-1-ol , cis-3-hexen-1-ol and their corresponding aldehydes, hexanal, trans-2-hexenal, and cis-3-hexenal) are known to occur in green plants as a product of oxidative degradation of plant lipids [Visser et al., J. Chem. Ecol. 5: 13 (1979)]. Previous studies have shown these compounds to be active as host plant attractants [Visser et al., Entomol. Exp. Appl. 24: 538-549 (1978); Katsoyannos et al., Entomol. Exp. Appl. 35: 71-74 (1984)], enhancers of other host plant odors [Guerin et al., J. Chem. Ecol. 9: 843-861 (1988), indicators of fruit is ripeness [Engel et al., J. Agric. Food Chem. 36: 1003-1006 (1988); Light et al., Proc. XVIII Internat. Congr. Entomol. Abstr., 213 (1988)] or defensive secretions [Hamilton et al., J. Chem. Ecol. 11: 1399-1409 (1985)].
The attractant pheromone of the boll weevil was previously identified and shown to consist of four oxygenated monoterpenoid components [Tumlinson et al., Science 166: 1010-1012 (1969)]. The detection of green leaf volatiles by insects [Visser, Annu. Rev. Entomol. 31: 121 (1986)], including the boll weevil, has been previously shown [Dickens, J. Chem. Ecol. 10: 1759 (1984)].
The smaller European elm bark beetle,
Scolytus multistriatus
(Marsham), is a vector of Dutch elm disease which threatens elm tree populations where it occurs. Multilure (the aggregation pheromone mixture of &agr;-multistriatin, methyl heptanol, and cubebene) [Pearce et al., J. Chem. Ecol. 1: 115-124 (1975)] trapping is used primarily as a means of removing portions of resident
S. multistriatus
populations from a given area.
The cotton plant itself and an aqueous extract of cotton leaves have been shown to increase responses of boll weevils in laboratory bioassays to grandlure, the pheromone of the boll weevil [Hardee et al., J. Eco. Ent. 64(6): 1454 (1971)]; however, among the more than 250 volatile components of cotton [Hedin et al., Annu. Rev. Phytochem. 10: 271 (1976)], the specific compounds responsible for the increased effect were not isolated or identified.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
I have now discovered that members of the green leaf volatile complex, especially trans-2-hexen-1-ol, cis-3-hexen-1-ol, 1-hexanol, hexenal, and trans-2-hexanal are effective synergists for insect pheromones.
In accordance with this discovery, it is an object of the invention to provide new positions for attracting insects as an aid to insect control measures.
A further object of the invention is to provide new means to synergize the effect of insect pheromones.
A further object of the invention is to provide a means for increasing the effectiveness of insect traps for monitoring or suppressing insect populations.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become obvious from the ensuing description.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
I have found that green leaf volatiles enhance the attractant pheromone response of the boll weevil,
Anthonomus grandis
Boh., the smaller European elm bark beetle,
Scolytus multistriatus
(Marsham), and the Mediterranean fruit fly,
Ceratitis capitata
Weid.
The importance of olfaction in the beavior of insects is well known. Insect-produced volatiles, e.g., pheromones, and host plant odors may facilitate location of conspecifics for mating and orientation to acceptable host plants for feeding and oviposition. Pheromones, which may be attractive alone, may be enhanced or synergized by host plant odors which show little attraction when presented alone.
A synergist is herein defined as a material that enhances the activity of other materials, so that the overall activity of the mixture is greater than the sum of the individual components.
An effective amount of a synergist is herein defined as an amount of synergist which in combination with the appropriate insect pheromone will attract a statistically greater number of insects than the sum of the pheromone and the synergist alone.
An effective synergist for an attractant pheromone is useful in several ways:
1. A synergist improves population monitoring with the pheromone not only by increasing the attractiveness of the pheromone but also by modifying the sex ratio of the insects attracted.
2. A synergist improves attractiveness of the pheromone, thus facilitating trap-out strategies.
3. An inexpensive synergist reduces the cost of insect control, since its addition to the pheromone in traps decreases the quantity of costly pheromone needed and extends the longevity of the attractive bait.
4. Pheromone traps for the boll weevil, which currently must be placed in the cotton field, will be more cost effective if a synergist makes them attractive when placed outside the cotton field.
Boll Weevils
The boll weevil is a serious pest of cotton throughout the southeastern United States, Arizona, and Central and South America. It was introduced from Mexico in the late 1800's and spread northward and eastward to areas where cotton was grown. Economic losses caused by this insect devastated cotton production in this region and required the use of large quantities of insecticides. The cost of insecticides for the control of insects on cotton and corn exceeds that for any other crops. Although the use of insecticides in the control of cotton insects is widespread, the use of currently available chemicals poses a threat both to man and his environment. Furthermore, insects have developed resistance to certain insecticides.
With the identification of the boll weevil pheromone in 1969, a tool was available to monitor boll weevil populations for directing insecticide applications and evaluating control measures. The pheromone could also potentially be used in trap-out strategies. However, the pheromone is composed of four oxygenated monoterpenes that are expensive and subject to oxidation, and no practical synergist is currently available for the pheromone.
The boll weevil is narrowly oligophagous, feeding primarily on cotton,
Gossypium hirsutum L
., and closely related Malvaceae. Once male boll weevils locate their host plant, feeding ensues, and they release an attractant pheromone in their frass. This pheromone is used in the Boll Weevil Eradication Program for both census and evaluation of control and/or eradication efforts. I have discovered a potent class of chemicals that, when released with the boll weevil pheromone, enhances
Deck Randall E.
Fado John D
Silverstein M. Howard
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of
Travers Russell
LandOfFree
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