Search for tsetse attractants: a structure-activity study on 1-octen-3-ol in Glossina fuscipes fuscipes (Diptera: Glossinidae)

• Published in: Journal of chemical ecology 1996-02, Vol.22 (2), p.343-355
• Main Authors: Naters, W.M. van der G. van, Bootsma, L, Otter, C.J. den, Belemtougri, R.G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ALCOHOLES; ALCOHOLS; ALCOOL; ANALOGS; ATRAYENTES; ATTRACTANTS; ATTRACTIF; BEHAVIOUR; Biological and medical sciences; COMPORTAMIENTO; COMPORTEMENT; Diptera; ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GLOSSINA; Glossina fuscipes fuscipes; Glossinidae; HOST-SEEKING BEHAVIOR; INSECT ATTRACTANTS; Medically important nuisances and vectors, pests of stored products and materials: population survey and control; ODEUR; OLOR; SMELL; STRUCTURE ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS; Vectors. Intermediate hosts
• ISSN: 0098-0331; 1573-1561
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02055103

Trapping tsetse flies belonging to the palpalis group still relies totally upon luring by visual cues even though odor-baited trapping is used effectively against the morsitans-group species. Forty-three percent of the antennal olfactory cells of Glossina f. fuscipes, a member of the palpalis group, respond to 1-octen-3-ol. For this species we report a structure-activity relationship between 1-octen-3-ol analogs, in which carbon chain length and the configuration of the hydroxyl and pi-bond moieties are varied, and biological activity. Although the optimum chain length for all cells sensitive to 1-octen-3-ol is eight and most cells give lower responses when the hydroxyl function is omitted, there is a clear division into two groups. One group is diverse and represents cells that appear indifferent to the presence or position of the pi bond; many will respond to such disparate structures as acetone and 3-methylphenol as well as to 1-octen-3-ol. In the other group, the structural requirements for the stimulus are more stringent; the cells appear to be specifically tuned to 1-octen-3-ol. Their thresholds are three orders of magnitude lower than those of the former group. The existence of two clusters points to a functional division in the olfactory sense. We suggest that the latter low-threshold group is involved in host detection from a distance while the former diverse group is involved in host discrimination at close range. Trap harvests with 1-octen-3-ol as a bait may have been disappointing because the appropriate mixture for generating a landing response on the traps is still lacking