We analyzed the volatiles emitted by Mexican populations of the female coffee leafminer moth Leucoptera coffeella that were collected in coffee plantations located in the Soconusco region of Chiapas. Our results confirmed previous results that L. coffeella females emitted 5,9-dimethylpentadecane as the major and 5,9-dimethylhexadecane as the minor component. Field response of the coffee leafminer moth to stereoisomers of the major component showed that delta traps baited with (5S,9R)-dimethylpentadecane caught a significantly greater number of coffee leafminer males when compared to those captured by traps baited with (5R,9R)-dimethylpentadecane, (5R,9S)-dimethylpentadecane and the control. The number of coffee leafminer captured by traps baited with (5S,9S)-dimethylpentadecane was not significantly different from the number captured by traps baited with (5R,9R)-dimethylpentadecane. The results are discussed in view of the possibility of using stereoisomers as bait for monitoring the leafminer moth.

Translation provided by the authors.