Sex pheromone of the mullein bug,Campylomma verbasci (Meyer) (Heteroptera: Miridae)

Abstract

The first known sex pheromone for the family Miridae is reported for the mullein bug,Campylomma verbasci (Meyer) (Heteroptera: Miridae). Extracts of and Porapak Q-trapped volatiles from females were attractive to males in field bioassays. Butyl butyrate and hexyl butyrate were the predominant compounds in the females' volatiles, but these compounds previously had been found to be inactive when released alone or in combination. Butyl butyrate in combination with an isolated trace chemical, (E)-crotyl butyrate (which was inactive alone), rivaled the attraction elicited by five live females. When synthetic butyl butyrate and (E)-crotyl butyrate in a 16: 1 ratio were released at 91 or 183 μg/day, they comprised an effective attractant for male bugs.