A male-produced sex pheromone from the neotropical redbanded stink bug, Piezodorus guildinii (W.)

The male-produced sex pheromone of the neotropical redbanded stink bug, Piezodorus guildinii (W.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), a serious pest of soybean in Central and South America, was identified as the sesquiterpene hydrocarbon beta-sesquiphellandrene by coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and laboratory bioassays. The identity was confirmed by comparison with an authentic standard, and its absolute configuration was determined to be (7R)-(+)-beta-sesquiphellandrene. The mean rate of release was approximately 40 ng d(-1) male(-1). The compound was found only in extracts from sexually mature males. Laboratory olfactometer bioassays showed that 200 ng of the synthetic compound applied to a filter paper strip was as attractive to female bugs as odors from five 15-d-old live males, an airborne extract from males, or the fraction of the extract that contained (7R)-(+)-beta-sesquiphellandrene.