The South American fruit fly is one of the most destructive polyphagous pests in South America. In this species, males gathered in aggregations emit volatiles that attract females; however, the compounds involved in this task remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the chemical composition of the volatile blend emitted by males aiming to identify the specific compounds within this blend that elicit behavioral responses in conspecific females. For this purpose, we performed chemical and electrophysiological analyses and bioassays. The chemical analyses revealed the presence of 29 compounds in headspace samples of A. fraterculus males, of which six compounds, i.e. a-pinene, limonene, (Z)-3-nonen-1-ol, (E,Z)-3,6-nonadien-1-ol, a-farnesene and (S,S)-(-)-epianastrephin, triggered antennal depolarization in conspecific females. In laboratory bioassays, five out of eight synthetic compounds tested individually elicited more behavioral responses than a hexane control, but only the synthetic mixture composed of all EAD-active compounds triggered behavioral responses in females similar to the responses to the headspace samples of conspecific males. In an experiment under semi-natural conditions, the synthetic mixture was more attractive to females than a hexane control and equally attractive to headspace extracts of males. This study reports the identification of male volatile compounds that act as attractant for A. fraterculus females, which may be useful for the control of this pest in infested orchards.

Resumo O presente trabalho constitui uma pesquisa de cunho teórico, na qual é traçado um breve percurso histórico das práticas de cura tradicionais e se faz também uma discussão sobre sua permanência e eficácia na contemporaneidade, apesar dos avanços na área da ciência médica. Tendo em vista a importância crescente da subjetividade na medicina contemporânea, nossa hipótese visa salientar que a objetivação do sujeito doente, operada pelas práticas médicas, condena a subjetividade a um segundo plano e representa uma lacuna importante nas propostas terapêuticas do modelo biomédico. Nosso objetivo é interrogar o lugar das práticas tradicionais de cura nessa lacuna deixada pela medicina e no que tais práticas podem contribuir para o modelo médico.

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