Résumé :
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The use of pheromones is one of the methods currently being investigated intensively as an alternative method of insect control. The various ways in which pheromones might be used in insect control programmes are briefly discussed in Chapter 1.Chapter 2 gives a detailed description of the isolation and identification of the sex pheromone of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana. The various techniques that have been used for the structure elucidation are described.The sex pheromone of P. americana contains two major components (periplanone-A and periplanone-B), as well as minute amounts of another four.Periplanone-B could be identified as (1 Z, 5 E)-1,10(14)-diepoxy- 4(15), 5-germacradiene-9-one. Periplanone-A proved to be very unstable, isomerizing to a biologically inactive compound. The instability of the compound rendered a complete structure elucidation impossible.The four minor compounds could not be collected in sufficient amounts to carry out a complete structure elucidation.Of the compounds reported to mimic the natural pheromone, only germacrene-D was found to do so. However, its threshold is very much higher than that of the natural pheromone. The same holds for the other reported mimics, even they do elicit electroantennogram responses.
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