Isolation of the Sex Attractant of the American Cockroach

Abstract

The sex attractant of the female American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (L.), has been collected and isolated by a combination of extraction, distillation, and chromatographic procedures. Progress through these procedures has been followed by bioassay and by ultraviolet spectrophotometry. The attractant has been isolated by gas chromatography, and characterization by mass spectrometry is proceeding.