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Bark Beetle Attractants: Identification, Synthesis and Field Bioassay of a New Compound isolated from Dendroctonus

Abstract

WE report the identification and synthesis of a second Dendroctonus pheromone1 that has been successfully bioassayed on D. frontalis Zimm. (Scolytidae) in field conditions. The southern pine beetle D. frontalis aggregates on pine trees in response to odours produced by insect and host. The aggregating principle is concentrated in the hindgut of female beetles after they emerge from old brood trees, and the pheromone is released by defaecation when they reach a new host. The attack generates host odours as the beetles penetrate the phloem tissue and stimulate resin flow. The host odours, in turn, arrest the aggregating population2.

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KINZER, G., FENTIMAN, A., PAGE, T. et al. Bark Beetle Attractants: Identification, Synthesis and Field Bioassay of a New Compound isolated from Dendroctonus. Nature 221, 477–478 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/221477a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/221477a0

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