Volume 117, September 2015, Pages 469–475
Highlights
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- Repellent properties of α-pinene enantiomers against house flies has been investigated.
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- Adult flies (both sexes) avoided α-pinene enantiomers (constant air flow conditions).
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- House flies avoided tarsal contact with filter paper saturated with S-α-pinene.
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- 1S, 5S and 1R, 5R pinenes are electrophysiologically active on female house fly antennal preparations.
Abstract
Musca domestica
L. is a non-biting nuisance fly that is capable of transmitting a large
variety of pathogens to humans and non-human animals. Natural compounds
and their derivatives, which are often less toxic than entirely
synthetic compounds, may be used as repellents against M. domestica
as part of comprehensive pest control and disease mitigation programs.
This work investigates the repellent properties of the natural compound
α-pinene against M. domestica.
Adult house flies of both sexes avoided the volatile plant-derived terpenes (1S)-(−)-α-pinene 1 and (1R)-(+)-α-pinene 2 in constant air flow laboratory conditions, with 1 exhibiting a stronger repellent effect. House flies also avoided tarsal contact with filter paper saturated with 1. Furthermore, both 1 and 2 are electrophysiologically active on in situ female house fly antennal preparations.
These
findings demonstrate that α-pinene exhibits natural baseline repellency
against the house fly, elicits a specific physiological response in
this fly, and that functional or structural modification of 1 in particular may yield novel fly repellents with desirable properties.
Graphical abstract
The terpenes (1S)-(−)-α-pinene 1 and (1R)-(+)-α-pinene 2 exhibited repellent properties against house flies and both compounds elicited electrophysiological responses from in situ antennal preparations.
Keywords
- Y-tube olfactometer;
- Electroantennogram;
- Terpenes;
- Musca domestica;
- (1S)-(−) and (1R)-(+)-α-pinene;
- Repellent
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