House Fly 1 Sex Pheromone: Enhancement of Mating Strike Activity by Combination of ( Z )-9-tricosene with Branched Saturated Hydrocarbons 2

Abstract

The pheromone of the female house fly, Musca dornestica L., that causes male flies to initiate copulation appears to be a mixture of unsaturated and saturated hydrocarbons. The most active unsaturated hydrocarbon among the (Z)-9-alkenes present on the female was (Z)-9-tricosene (muscalure). Methyl- and dimethyl-branched C₂₇ and C₂₉ alkanes were responsible for the activity in the saturated hydrocarbons. When synthetic branched alkanes were combined with (Z)-9-tricosene, 13-methylnonacosane, and 4,8-dimethylheptacosane produced the greatest amount of mating strike response.