Kairomones and their use for management of entomophagous insects

Abstract

Volatile chemicals emanating from an excretion (apparently meconium) and abdominal tips of femaleHeliothis zea (Boddie) moths mediated increased rates of parasitization ofH. zea eggs byTrichogramma pretiosum Riley. A blend of synthetic chemicals, consisting of hexadecanal, (Z)-7-hexadecenal, (Z)-9-hexadecenal, and (Z)-11-hexadecenal, which has been identified as the sex pheromone of and from the abdominal tip of femaleH. zea moths, also increased rates of parasitization ofH. zea eggs byT. pretiosum in greenhouse experiments. In addition, parasitization ofH. zea eggs by wildTrichogramma spp., in field plots of cotton,Gossypium hirsutum L., treated with a similar blend of chemicals, in Conrel fibers, was more than double that in untreated plots.