Attractant for beet webworm moths

DETAILED DESCRIPTION AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Laboratory bioassays were carried out in olfactometer cages with 81 synthetic compounds having from five to sixteen carbon atoms (mostly alcohols and acetates).
The male moths of the beet webworm responded repeatedly only to 4 compounds listed in Table 1.
These 4 compounds were tested at concentrations from 10 to 230 .
mu.
g/carrier and only E-11-tetradecen-1-ol acetate (E11-14:Ac) at concentrations below 230 .
mu.
g/carrier caused at least 50% of the males to attempt copulation.
Results are summarized in Table 1.
Traps were made from 0.
5 gallons (2 liters) cardboard containers with the bottom 2/3 of the inner surface coated with a sticky substance.
The test chemical was placed on a rubber band which was hung in the center of the trap.
Traps were set on wooden stakes 10 m apart in the field and were at a height of 1 m unless otherwise stated.
The traps were placed in a single row in a north-south direction with one end of the trap facing the prevailing wind (west).
The traps were placed along plots of rape and in fields of sugar beets.
Treatments were replicated 4 times.
Initial field screening gave results corresponding to those of the olfactometer tests.
E11-14:Ac at 10 or 20 .
mu.
g/carrier gave greater catches than at 100 .
mu.
g/carrier, and this compound tested more attractive than unmated females.
Some screening results are given in Tables 2 and 3.
These results indicate that E11-14:Ac should be present as a major component of a synthetic attractant and at some amount less than 100 .
mu.
g/carrier.
However, other field tests with E11-14:Ac clearly showed that this compound was not species-specific as in some cases greater numbers of other species were captured, particularly at trap heights below 1 m.
Further field tests were conducted to determine whether the attractancy of E11-14:Ac to beet webworm male moths could be enhanced by the addition of closely related compounds.
Test data given in Table 4 shows that the addition to E11-14:Ac of E11-14:OH, tetradecan-1-ol (14:OH), dodecan-1-ol (12:OH) and dodecan-1-ol acetate (12:Ac) all increased the attractancy