Study On The Active Components And Chemical Structures Of The Sex Pheromone Of Clostera Anachoreta Fabricius, And Its Electrophysiological Response To Volatiles By Host-plant

Clostera anachoreta Fabricius, which spread all around China, is the main defoliater of popular trees, and its occurrence is cyclical. This paper has emphasized on the biological characteristics of C. anachoreta and the chemical structures of its sex pheromone. The purpose of this work is to deeply understand the function of the sex pheromone in pest control, and may provide scientific evidence for effective ecological management of C. anachoreta.Calling behaviors, sex pheromone production and release of 552 virgin females were investigated, the results indicated that certain rules existed. Underl6h:8h photoperiod condition, in early scotophase (0-6h), there was no sexual behaviors in moths of different ages. Virgin females became sexually excited 7h after darkness. The peak of the sex pheromone releasing of females is 8h into scotophase. There was no calling behaviors in middle and late photophase. There was slight difference about peaks of sex pheromone releasing between females fed by transgenic leaves and non- transgenic leaves.Age of sex pheromone releasing of 180 females were also investigated. Most of the moths became sexually mature after one day of emergence. The pheromone releasing reached maximum two day and 3 day after emergence.Virgin female sex pheromone glands were extracted within 4 different solvents(hexane, pentane methylene chloride, and ethyl ether,) by means of analytical technique of single sex pheromone gland. Comparing Electroantennogram (EAG) values of the extracts from different solvents, the author found that the hexane extracts was more active than that obtained by the other three solvents.Sex pheromone extracts were detected by Gas chromatography-Electroantennographic Detection(GC-EAD), the result showed that there is only one distinct peak during the whole reacting process, which might meant only one component in the extract of virgin female glands could elicit responses of C. anachoreta males.Based on the results above, microchemical reactions were further used to identify the chemical structures of the active component of the sex pheromone. Double bonds were confirmed by using 4-methyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (MTAD) addiction reaction. Hydrolysis of the sex pheromone extract with an potassium hydroxide/methyl alcohol (KOH/MeOH) solution resulted in a complete loss of activity. Oxidation with pyridinium chlorochromate showed that the active component might not be aldehyde substance.Solvent desorption dynamic headspace method and hydrodistillation method were used to collect volatiles from host-plants. EAG results showed that volatiles from the leaves had certain effects to male C. anachoreta, but volatiles from trunks didn't.