Aphid sex pheromones: From discovery to commercial production

Birkett, M. and Pickett, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8386-3770 2003. Aphid sex pheromones: From discovery to commercial production. Phytochemistry 62 (5) , pp. 651-656. 10.1016/S0031-9422(02)00568-X

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

This review charts the progress made with aphid sex pheromone chemistry, from initial identification of cyclopentanoid nepetalactones, for example (4aS,7S,7aR)-nepetalactone (1) and (1R,4aS,7S,7aR)-nepetalactol (2), to commercial production from a renewable non-food crop, the catmint, Nepeta cataria (Lamiaceae). The availability of aphid sex pheromone components is now facilitating the development of new aphid pest control strategies, incorporating the use of other semiochemicals, particularly in the manipulation of populations of aphid parasitoids and aphid predators such as lacewings, which can utilise the nepetalactones and closely related molecules to locate their hosts and prey. This is the first example of a plant resource being developed as a feedstock for the production of a commercially valuable insect pheromone. The development of a plant-based production route highlights the tremendous potential that higher plants offer as cheap and renewable resources for the production of insect semiochemicals, through the wide array of secondary metabolites that they can generate. Sex pheromone components for a number of pest aphid species comprise the cyclopentanoid nepetalactones 1 and 2. The nepetalactone 1 is produced on a commercial scale from catmint, Nepeta cataria (Lamiaceae). The availability of aphid sex pheromone components is now facilitating the development of aphid pest control strategies, particularly in the manipulation of populations of beneficial insects such as parasitic wasps and predatory lacewings.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Chemistry
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0031-9422
Date of Acceptance:	23 October 2002
Last Modified:	05 Mar 2026 12:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/185489

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item