[The application of sex pheromones and juvenile hormone analogs on cockroaches].

The sex pheromone of cockroaches is the chemical which transmits the copulation signal between female and male roaches of the same species. It is produced by virgin females in most roaches, and the chemical structures have been identified for the American, German and Japanese cockroaches. Periplanone-B (PB) and periplanone-A (PA) have been synthesized in the laboratory and tested both in lab and field, showing good biological responses. The sex pheromones of the German cockroach are 3,11-dimethyl-2-nonacosanone, 29-hydroxy-3,11-dimethyl-2-nonacosanone and 29-oxo-3,11-dimethyl-2-nonacosanone, and because of their low volatile nature, they would not be used up in a short time. Periplanone-J (PJ) is produced by the Japanese cockroach. The juvenile hormone analogs (JHA) are chemicals which mimic the juvenile hormones (JH). They have the physiological actions of JH which are maintaining the larvae and nymphs in their immature stages or making the reproductive organs differentiate incompletely, and thereby interfering with their reproduction. The JHA which have been commercialized to control roaches are hydroprene, pyriproxyfen and fenoxycarb. The first two have been proved to reduce the roach population in field tests in the USA and Japan. For some reason, if the sex pheromone and the JHA are used together, the net effect will be more than if they are used alone. In the presence of the sex pheromone, the cockroaches' movements increase, so the chance for a roach to contact the sprayed JHA is also increased. This might be the possible reason for the above observation.