Identification of the sex pheromone of the Hessian fly,Mayetiola destructor (Say)

Abstract

Wheat is the most widely cultivated plant in the world, providing more than 20 % of the food calories consumed [1]. The Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor (Say), (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), is one of the most destructive pests of wheat and is found in most of the major wheat-growing areas of the world [2]. Due to the feeding habit of the larva and the type of damage it produces, early infestations by Hessian fly are extremely difficult to detect or predict. Female Hessian flies are known to produce a sex pheromone that elicits upwind flight by males [3] and, given the widespread use of synthetic sex pheromones in pest management programs [4], it is very likely that this sex pheromone could find great utility in controlling this pest. As well as containing a large number of pest species, the family Cecidomyiidae is of evolutionary interest because of its rapid rate of species formation relative to a lesser rate of speciation in related families of Diptera [5]. We report here the first identification of a cecidomyiid sex pheromone, that of the Hessian fly, as (2S)(E)-10-tridecen-2-yl acetate (Fig. 1). The crude sex pheromone was obtained by dissecting the terminal segments of the ovipositors of female Hessian flies, and extracting them in pentane. The activity of extracts, fractions of extracts, and synthetic chemicals was determined