Disrupting sexual signalling in the Queensland fruit fly, the most destructive horticultural pest in Australia, could save farmers millions, local chemists say.

The Queensland fruit fly costs an estimated AUD$500 million (£200 million) each year in control programs and production losses. Similar pest species can be kept in check by disrupting the pheromones the flies use to attract a mate. Now James De Voss and colleagues at the University of Queensland say they hope to use pheromones to control the local fruit fly.

Insect pheromones are made up of a complex mixture of compounds, with each species producing its own unique pheromone cocktail. So using pheromones for pest control is species-specific, and harmless to the general environment, said De Voss. 

While the male Queensland fruit fly was known to produce a blend of six compounds, De Voss has now established the composition of the pheromones released by the female, a mixture of over 12 compounds. One component in particular, a spiroacetal, had an unusual branched configuration rarely seen in insects, said De Voss, who confirmed the novel structure by synthesising it in the lab.

Wittko Francke, an expert in pheromone-based pest management at the University of Hamburg, Germany, praised the discovery. However, 'questions remain concerning the biological significance of the compounds: do the synthetic spiroacetals attract the Queensland fruit fly?' he asked.

De Voss said he has not tested the compound on flies. 'Our overall goal is to understand the biogenesis of these compounds and then develop inhibitors of their biosynthesis,' he said. 'We hope that the inhibitors we develop in this way may produce environmentally friendly, species-specific control methods for these pestiferous insects,' he said.

James Mitchell Crow