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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Maricopa, Arizona » U.S. Arid Land Agricultural Research Center » Pest Management and Biocontrol Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #228027
Title: Development of sol-gel formulations for slow release of phermones

Author
item ZADA, ANAT - ARO,BET DAGEN,ISRAEL
item FALACH, LILY - ARO,BET DAGEN,ISRAEL
item Byers, John

Submitted to: Chemoecology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/20/2009
Publication Date: 2/12/2009
Citation: Zada, A., Falach, L., Byers, J.A. 2009. Development of sol-gel formulations for slow release of pheromones. Chemoecology. 19:37-45.

Interpretive Summary: A new type of dispenser that will slowly release pheromones and behavioral chemicals of insects was developed based on sol-gel polymers that should be useful in monitoring insect population sizes, mass trapping of insects, and disruption of insect mating in integrated pest management (IPM). Sol-gel matrices exhibit glass-like characteristics and allow control of the degree of cross-linking of chemical bonds between polymers during the polymerization process in order to provide an optimal release rate for a particular pheromone. The advantages of sol-gel materials include keeping the added molecules chemically stable and enabling the sol-gel material to be formed into any desired shape and quantity, and thereby easily modify release rates of the pheromones from the sol-gel. In addition, sol-gels are primarily silica (sand) and water that are environmentally common and therefore safe for use in the field. We developed a method for the entrapment of volatile behavioral chemicals in sol-gel materials that allowed release at an almost constant rate over about a month (releasing, for example, peach twig borer, Anarsia lineatella, pheromone). The codling moth (Cydia pomonella) pheromone in sol-gels was used as a model in field tests, and this gel formulation captured more codling moth males in the field than control traps without attractive chemicals. We describe how the method may be modified to entrap other types of pheromones by making sol-gels with different pore sizes.

Technical Abstract: A new type of dispenser for slow-release of semiochemicals and sex pheromones was developed based on sol-gel polymers that can be useful in monitoring, mass trapping, and mating disruption in integrated pest management (IPM). Sol-gel matrices exhibit glass characteristics and allow control of the degree of cross-linking during the polymerization process in order to provide an optimal release rate for a particular pheromone. The advantages of sol-gel matrixes include keeping the added molecules chemically stable and enabling the sol-gel material to be formed into any desired shape and quantity, and thereby easily modify release rates. In addition, sol-gels are primarily silica and water that are environmentally common and therefore safe for field dispensing. We developed a method for the entrapment of volatile semiochemicals in sol-gel matrices that allowed release at an almost constant rate over many days (e.g., peach twig borer, Anarsia lineatella, pheromone). The codling moth (Cydia pomonella) pheromone in sol-gels was used as a model in field tests, and this matrix formulation captured more codling moth males in the field than non-baited control traps. We describe how the method may be modified to entrap other types of pheromones by making sol-gels with different pore sizes.