Spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) pheromone chemistry and behavioral responses to pheromone components and analogs.

This paper reviews the sex pheromone chemistry and pheromone-mediated behavior of the spruce budworm and related coniferophagous (Choristoneura) budworms. InC. fumiferana, temporal changes in pheromone-gland monounsaturated fatty acids (pheromone precursors) enable the prediction of the primary sex pheromone components. This technique may also be applicable for predicting additional pheromone components. Tetradecanal (14∶ Ald), previously shown to enhance close-range precopulatory behavior, lowers the threshold of response by males for upwind flight to a pheromone-component source. Spruce budworm males maintain upwind flight to 95∶5 (E/Z)-1,12-pentadecadiene (diolefin analog) after initiating upwind flight to a primary-component pheromone source (95∶5E/Z11-14∶Ald). This is the first demonstration of apparently normal male flight responses to a pheromone analog.