Reexamination of tetradecenyl acetates in oak leaf roller sex pheromone and in plants.

The chemistry of the oak leaf roller sex pheromone is shown by means of microozonolysis and computerized gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to be dominated by an approximate 70 to 30 ratio of E- and Z-11-tetradecenyl acetates. Tetradecenyl acetates are undetectable in highly purified oak leaf, apple leaf, and corn extracts analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. These results reflect negatively on previous reports and on the hypothesis that plant components might govern insect chemical communication systems.