Role of pheromone components in evoking behavioral responses from male potato tuberworm moth,Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae).

Responses of the male potato tuberworm moth,Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller), to two sex pheromone components and female crude extract were studied. Both in a wind tunnel and the field, males were better able to locate a source consisting of a 1∶1 mixture of (E,Z)-4,7-tridecadien-1-yl acetate and (E,Z,Z)-4,7,10-tridecatrien-1-yl acetate than a source consisting of the triene alone. The addition of the diene increased the time spent in the vicinity of the pheromone source, time spent on the source itself, and also increased the average number of visits to the source per individual when compared to the triene alone. The triene elicited high levels of locomotor activity and may play a major role in eliciting earlier (long-range) steps in the behavioral sequence of sexually activated moths. The diene appeared to influence later (short-range) behavior. The behavioral responses of males to a 1∶1 mixture of the diene and triene were similar to those elicited by female crude extract.