Pheromones are organic compounds, released by an organism, that at&t the physiology and/or behavior of other members of the same species. This type of chemical communication has been exploited par excellence by insects, and during the last 20 years or so some 700 insect pheromones have been characterized and/or synthesized. The underlying impetus for this burgeoning field is the expectation that pheromones will supplement, possibly supercede, insecticides as a rational form of insect pest control.
The opening chapter of this book by E. Hecker and A. Butenandt is a fascinating historical account of the early studies by Butenandt and co-workers on the first identified pheromone-Bombykol-from the commercial silkworm. Several chapters deal with the essentially biological question of whether a particular insect partakes in chemical communication. Thus, T. C. Baker and R. T. Card& review various behavioral bioassays with and without air flow, while T. C. Baker and C. E. Linn describe the use of wind tunnels as effective testing procedures. A cheap and practical variant of such behavioral analysis is field trapping employing crude or purified attractants (R. T. Card6 and J. S. Elkinton).
On an ascending scale of sophistication, H. E. Hummel describes how the stream-split effluent from a GC column may be directed into a behavioral bioassay chamber containing several test insects. Their behavior in response to perceived GC fractions forms the basis of the assay. A more precise bioassay technique is the electroantennogram reviewed by W. L. Roelofs. In this procedure, Methods in Enzymology, Volume 108, Immunochemical Techniques, Part G, Separation and Characterization of Lymphoid Cells. Edited by G. DISABATO,