Sex Attractant of Cabbage Looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hubner)

When virgin male cabbage loopers were exposed to filter-paper strips containing an extract from female abdomens, they exhibited a response lasting from 2 to 5 minutes. Gases of a component (or components) of these extracts emanating from a chromatography column attracted the males and then evoked the same response. The attractant is fairly volatile and has relatively low molecular weight.