Host Marking Pheromone (HMP) in the Mexican Fruit Fly Anastrepha ludens

Authors

  • Andrew J. F. Edmunds Syngenta Crop Protection Muenchwilen AG, Schaffhauserstrasse, CH-4332 Stein;, Email: andrew_jf.edmunds@syngenta.com
  • Martin Aluja Instituto de Ecología, A.C, Apartado Postal 63, 91000 Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
  • Fransico Diaz-Fleischer Campaña Nacional Contra las Moscas de la Fruta, Apartado Postal 368, 30700 Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, INBIOTECA, Apartado Postal Universidad Veracruzana, 91000 Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
  • Bruno Patrian Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil Research Station, ACW, Schloss, CH-8820 Wädenswil
  • Leonhard Hagmann Syngenta Crop Protection Muenchwilen AG, Schaffhauserstrasse, CH-4332 Stein

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2533/chimia.2010.37

Keywords:

Anastrephamide, Crop protection, Fruit flies, Host marking pheromones, Natural products

Abstract

Host marking pheromones (HMPs) are used by insects to mark hosts (usually a fruit) where they have already laid eggs. The compounds serve as a deterrent to conspecifics avoiding over-infestation of hosts (i.e. repeated egg-laying into an already occupied/used host). If these HMPs are sprayed onto commercially valuable fruit they act as deterrents preventing attack by females interested in laying eggs into the valuable commodity. Having no insecticidal or toxic properties, and being natural products (or close derivatives thereof) they could be used as fruit sprays to replace insecticides, or in combination with other products to improve efficacy. This review discusses the isolation, and synthesis of the HMP of the Mexican fruit fly Anastrepha ludens a feared pest of citrus and mangos in Mexico and Central America. This compound is also recognized by females of other pestiferous species in the same genus Anastrepha distributed from the Southern USA to Northern Argentina, including many Caribbean Islands. The synthetic HMP was shown to exhibit strong electrophysiological activity against A. ludens and excellent interspecies cross recognition with other Anastrepha species. Behavioural tests confirmed the HMP deterring effect of the synthetic natural product. Further studies enabled us to drastically simplify the structure of the HMP and obtain a derivative, which we named Anastrephamide, which shows HMP deterring effects very similar to the natural product in laboratory and field tests. The potential use of such HMP derivatives in a crop protection scenario is briefly discussed.

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Published

2010-02-26