2. Academic Validation
  3. Trans-beta-farnesene as a feeding stimulant for the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae)

Trans-beta-farnesene as a feeding stimulant for the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae)

  • J Med Entomol. 1992 Mar;29(2):226-31. doi: 10.1093/jmedent/29.2.226.
R B Tesh 1,  H Guzman,  M L Wilson
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510.
PMID: 1495034 DOI: 10.1093/jmedent/29.2.226
Abstract

The aphid alarm pheromone, trans-beta-farnesene (TBF), was found to stimulate feeding in both male and female Lutzomyia longipalpis Lutz & Neiva. Four other structurally related compounds (farnesol; 808 farnesene; trans, trans-farnesyl acetate; farnesyl methyl ether) were slightly less stimulating to these insects. The effect of TBF varied with sand fly age and the concentration of the chemical used. In contrast, TBF did not stimulate feeding in either sex of four other sand fly species (L. shannoni Dyar, Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli), P. argentipes Annandale & Brunetti, P. perniciosus Newstead). TBF might be useful in enhancing L. longipalpis field collections or in developing a poison bait for the control of this species.

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