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Identification of the sex pheromone of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica

Satoshi Nojima, Coby Schal, Francis X. Webster, Richard G. Santangelo, Wendell L. Roelofs

The German cockroach is considered the most common house infesting cockroach in the world. They feed on food and food products and can transport pathogenic organisms e.g. salmonella, and in many cases can cause severe allergic responses. The sex pheromone of this important pest has been just identified and the finding is published in Science Magazine, the new pheromone compound given the name "blattellaquinone". The identification of blattellaquinone offers new options in cockroach population control and allergen mitigation. To go to the record in The Pherobase Click here...

Abstract of this study

The sex pheromone of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica , has been characterized as gentisyl quinone isovalerate. This cockroach is a major cause of allergic disease and serves as a mechanical vector of pathogens, making it one of the most important residential and food-associated pests worldwide. The sex pheromone–producing gland in adult females was identified in 1993, but thermal instability of the pheromone made characterization difficult. Now, using a new preparative gas chromatography approach coupled with electroantennographic detection, we have isolated and characterized the pheromone, which we term blattellaquinone, and confirmed the identification by chemical synthesis. The synthetic pheromone was active in behavioral assays and highly effective in field trapping tests, which suggest that it may provide a new tool in cockroach population detection, monitoring, and control.