Vol. 41 No. 3, 2002

Identification, Electroantennogram Screening, and Field Bioassays of Volatile Chemicals from Lygus hesperus Knight (Heteroptera: Miridae)

Hsiao-Yung Ho^1,2,* and Jocelyn G. Millar¹

¹Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
²Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan 115

Hsiao-Yung Ho and Jocelyn G. Millar (2002) Volatile chemicals released by live virgin female and male Lygus hesperus were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC), coupled GC-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and GC-electroantennographic detection (GCEAD). In total, 17 compounds were identified in headspace extracts and extracts of metathoracic glands, with hexyl butyrate and (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate being the major components. No qualitative differences between female and male bugs were found. Quantitatively, females produced larger amounts of compounds than did males. There were also no qualitative differences in the antennal responses of female and male bugs to bug extracts, and only small differences in the responses of male and female antennae to standardized doses of compounds from extracts in electroantennogram (EAG) analyses. In field bioassays, neither nymphs nor adult bugs of either sex were attracted to any of the 120 possible binary combinations of 16 of the 17 compounds identified in the aeration extracts.

Key words: Hexyl butyrate, E2-hexenyl butyrate, Metathoracic gland, Attractant, Pheromone.

*Correspondence: Tel: 886-2-27899536. Fax: 886-2-27858059. E-mail: shine@gate.sinica.edu.tw