Sex Pheromone of the Rice Green Caterpillar: Chemical Identification of Three Components and Field Tests with Synthetic Pheromones

The sex pheromone of the rice green caterpillar, Naranga aenescens Moor, was presumed to be a mixture of some unsaturated acetates using electroantennogram technique. Abdominal tips of virgin females were shown to contain (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate (compound I), (Z)-9-hexadecenyl acetate (compound 11) and (Z)-11-hexadecenyl acetate (compound III) in a ratio of 1:1:4, respectively. These synthetic three compounds were individually active on the male antenna but only the mixture of the three compounds attracted the male moths in a field. Field traps containing the three compounds in a ratio of 1:1:4 (1mg/rubber septum) consistently attracted more males than traps baited with two unmated females.