Host plant volatiles synergize response to sex pheromone in codling moth, Cydia pomonella

Plant volatile compounds synergize attraction of codling moth males Cydia pomonella to sex pheromone (E,E)-8,10-dodecadien-1-ol (codlemone). Several apple volatiles, known to elicit a strong antennal response, were tested in a wind tunnel. Two-component blends of 1 pg/min codlemone and 100 pg/min of either racemic linalool, (E)-beta-farnesene, or (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol attracted significantly more males to the source than codlemone alone (60, 58, 56, and 37%, respectively). In comparison, a blend of codlemone and a known pheromone synergist, dodecanol, attracted 56% of the males tested. Blends of pheromone and plant volatiles in a 1:100 ratio attracted more males than 1: 1 or 1: 10,000 blends. Adding two or four of the most active plant compounds to codlemone did not enhance attraction over blends of codlemone plus single-plant compounds. Of the test compounds, only farnesol was attractive by itself; at a release rate of 10,000 pg/min, 16% of the males arrived at the source. However, attraction to a 1:10,000 blend of codlemone and farnesol (42%) was not significantly different from attraction to codlemone alone (37%). In contrast, a codlemone mimic, (E)-10-dodecadien-1-ol, which attracted 2% males by itself, had a strong antagonistic effect when blended in a 1: 10,000 ratio with codlemone.