Identification of a sex pheromone component of the Japanese mealybug, Planococcus kraunhiae (Kuwana)

Abstract

A sex pheromone component of the Japanese mealybug, Planococcus kraunhiae, was isolated and identified. A crude extract of the pheromone obtained by airborne collection was first fractionated with Florisil column chromatography. The activity of each fractionated sample was examined in Petri dishes. The active fraction was further purified by HPLC and an active component was isolated by preparative GC. The purified compound showed attraction activity to adult males of P. kraunhiae in the field. The chemical structure was determined to be 2-isopropyliden-5-methyl-4-hexen-1-yl butyrate by GC-MS and NMR analyses.