Reinvestigation of oak leaf roller sex pheromone components and the hypothesis that they vary with diet

Abstract

The sex pheromone of the oak leaf roller, Archips semiferanus, was identified as a specific blend (67:33) of trans-11- and cis-11-tetradecenyl acetates. The pheromone blend of females from a semisynthetic diet and from three oak species did not vary significantly. Males from these diets responsded in the laboratory and the field only to treatments approximating the 67 : 33 blend. These findings conflict with the hypothesis that the composition and perception of month sex pheromones vary with slight changes in diet.