A new component of attractive aggregation pheromone in the bean bug, Riptortus clavatus (Thunberg) (Heteroptera: Alydidae)

Abstract

The attractive aggregation pheromone from males of the bean bug, Riptortus clavatus, has been identified as a blend of (E)-2-hexenyl (E)-2-hexenoate, (E)-2-hexenyl (Z)-3-hexenoate and tetradecyl isobutyrate (3 mix). When intact male bodies were extracted with hexane, octadecyl isobutyrate was detected in addition to the known 3 mix. Octadecyl isobutyrate was also detected in airborne volatiles using the glass-beaker collection method. In field experiments, the attractiveness of tetradecyl isobutyrate or 3 mix to R. clavatus was increased by the addition of octadecyl isobutyrate. These results suggest that octadecyl isobutyrate is one of the components of the attractive aggregation pheromone of R. clavatus, and may act as a synergistic composition in this bug.