SEX PHEROMONE COMPONENTS OF AN ALBERTA POPULATION OF EUROPEAN CORN BORER, OSTRINIA NUBILALIS (HBN.) (LEPIDOPTERA: PYRALIDAE)

The sex pheromone components of European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hbn.), from southern Alberta were identified in washes and extracts of abdomen tips from calling female moths. This is a Z strain population as (Z)-11- and (E)-11-tetradecenyl acetates were isolated in a ratio 100:2.4, and a corresponding synthetic blend in a ratio of 100:3 attracted males in the field. Dodecyl alcohol, tetradecyl alcohol and acetate, and (Z)-11-tetradecenol were also identified, but none of these components nor other "pheromone-like" mono-unsaturated C10 to C16 acetates had any effect on increasing the trap catches of male moths under field conditions. However, the addition of (Z)-9-dodecenyl acetate or (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate to the synthetic pheromone blend significantly reduced the capture of male moths, even though these compounds were not detectable in the female extracts. Pheromone blends used for monitoring the Z strain of the European corn borer must be essentially free, ca.< 0.1%, of these acetates. A commercially available, sticky-surface, delta-type trap was the most satisfactory of several tested for capturing moths under prairie conditions.