Sex Pheromone Activity of 2-Hydroxy-6-methylbenzaldehyde Analogs against Males of Two Astigmatid Mites, Aleuroglyphus ovatus and Acarus immobilis

Abstract

A total of 27 analogues of the astigmatid mite sex pheromone, 2-hydroxy-6-methylbenzaldehyde (6-methylsalicylaldehyde), were prepared and their activities were determined against two species, Aleuroglyphus ovatus and Acarus immobilis. Four analogues, 2-methylbenzaldehyde, 2-methylacetophenone, 6-methylsalicylic acid and 2-methylbenzoic acid, evoked the pheromone activity against A. ovatus, among which 6-methylsalicylic acid and 2-methylbenzoic acid exhibited the same level of the activity as that of the pheromone. On the other hand, five substituted salicylaldehydes (3-isopropyl-6-methyl-, 6-ethyl-, 3-methyl-, 3-ethyl- and non-substituted) and 4-hydroxy-2-methylbenzaldehyde indicated the activity against A. immobilis, whose activities were one-tenth of that of the pheromone at the best. As a result, each species demonstrated the similar pheromone behavior upon exposure to the different set of analogues, other than to the natural pheromone. © 1998, Pesticide Science Society of Japan. All rights reserved.