Synergism of an insect sex pheromone specialist neuron: Implications for component identification and receptor interactions

Extracellular recordings show that the response to the sex pheromone component, (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate (27-12:Ac) by the HS(a) antennal olfactory specialist neuron of the cabbage looper. Trichoplusia ni (Hubner), is synergized by two synthetic sex pheromone analogs and two components of the female sex pheromone. Complementary behavioral measures of upwind Right and copulatory responses to mixtures of Z7-12:Ac with the analogs and sex pheromone components in a wind tunnel produced behavioral evidence consistent with the neuron's electrophysiological responses. The phenomenon of receptor neuron synergism impacts several areas and provides a note of caution for common practices of identifying secondary sex pheromone components only from field traps and/or wind tunnel tests.