Mealybug mating disruption by a sex pheromone derived from lavender essential oil

A characteristic constituent of lavender essential oils, lavandulol (2-isopropenyl-5-methyl-4-hexen-1-ol), and its relatives have been frequently discovered in the pheromones of mealybugs. Synthetic pheromones to interfere with their mate-finding communication are a potential management tool for these pests. The sex pheromone of the Japanese mealybug (Planococcus kraunhiae) is 2-isopropyliden-5-methyl-4-hexen-1-yl butyrate (isolavandulyl butyrate), and its alcohol moiety can easily be synthesized from lavandulol by means of acid-promoted double-bond migration. In this study, we synthesized isolavandulyl butyrate from natural lavandulol without isolating it from lavender essential oil. The resulting oil included both the pheromone and insect repellants, and the oil’s attractiveness was inferior to that of pure synthetic pheromone. However, the lavender oil-derived pheromone displayed a copulation-interference performance equivalent to that of the pure pheromone when large amounts were released around mealy...