In recent years, usage of sex pheromones as a replacement for pesticides against harmful insects has gained great interest due to their important ecological advantages like high specificity, biodegradability and low toxicity. The stem borer, Sesamia cretica Lederer (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Amphipyrinae), is one of the main insect pests of sorghum, maize, sugarcane, and cereal crops in the Mediterranean area. The components of sex pheromone of this insect was identified as consisting of (Z)-9-tetradecen-1-ol (80%), (Z)-9-tetradecen-1-yl acetate (10%), and (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-ol (10%). The previous reports for the synthesis of these compounds suffer from several problems such as difficult procedure, harmful solvents and low overall yields. in this research an efficient strategy for the synthesis of the main component of this pheromone is described from safe and readily available starting materials.

Effect of colour and design of the trap, dosage of pheromone component in rubber capsule and trap height on the efficiency of Codling moth pheromone traps were evaluted. The study was conducted in Fars province. A Complete Randonized Block Design (CRBD) used with three blocks and four replications in each block.To find the best trap color, yellow, green, brown and white colors were tested. Using Duncan procedure, yellow and green colors were significantly different from each other at the P=1%. Green, white, brown were ranked in a separate group and yellow, brown and white were ranked in another group and were not significantly different at P=1%. The majority of Codling moths were caught in yellow trap.To determine the best suitable trap design, Three different pheronone traps, Zoecon, Delta and Cylinderical were tested. Zecon traps with highest moth catches were superior in comparison with other trap designs. Three different heights, one meter from the ground, middle of the canopy of the tree and top of tree were tested in order to determine the role of the trap height on the efficiency of traps. The highest numbers of moths were caught in the traps which were positioned on the top of the tress.The doses of 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2mg doses of the pheromones formulated in Plant Pest and Diseases Research Institute (PPDRI) compared with a foreign standard rubber capsule (1mg, Agrisense, England). The results of the test revealed that the foreign standard rubber capsule was superior and had more catches at P=1%. The different PPDRI formulations were not significantly different from each other at P=1%.

Through a collection of cooperative agents called ants, the near optimal solution to the multi-reservoir operation problem may be effectively achieved employing Ant Colony Optimization Algorithms (ACOAs). The problem is approached by considering a finite operating horizon, classifying the possible releases from the reservoir(s) intopre-determined intervals, and projecting the problem on a graph. By defining an optimality criterion, the combination of desirable releases from the reservoirs or operating policy is determined. To minimize the possibility of premature convergence to a local optimum, a combination of Pheromone Re-Initiation (PRI) and Partial Path Replacement (PPR) mechanisms are presented and their effects have been tested in a benchmark, nonlinear, and multimodal mathematical function. The finalized model is then applied to develop an optimum operatingpolicy for a single reservoir and a benchmark four-reservoir operation problem. Integration of these mechanisms improves the final result, as well as initial and final rate of convergence. In the benchmark Ackley function minimization problem, after 410 iterations, PRI mechanism improved the final solution by 97 percent and the combination of PRI and PPR mechanisms reduced final result to global optimum. As expected in the single-reservoir problem, with a continuous search space, a nonlinear programming (NLP) approach performed better than ACOAs employing a discretized search space on the decision variable (reservoir release). As the complexity of the system increases, the definition of an appropriate heuristic function becomes more and more difficult; this may provide wrong initial sight or vision to the ants. By assigning a minimum weight to the exploitation term in a transition rule, the best result is obtained. In a benchmark 4-reservoirproblem, a very low standard deviation is achieved for 10 different runs and it is considered as an indication of low diversity of the results. In 2 out of 10 runs, the global optimal solution is obtained, where in the other 8 runs; results are as close as 99.8 percent of the global solution. Results and execution time compare well with those of well developed genetic algorithms (GAs).

Potato tuber moth (PTM), Phthorimaea operculella (Lep.: Gelechiidae) is a serious pest of potato, Solanum tuberosum (Solanaceae). To study factors influencing capture of male PTM by pheromone traps, two sets of experiments were conducted in a split-plot factorial design. In the first experiment, four factors were studied: potato cultivar (Agria, Marfona, Jelly, Arinda, Santea and Sabalan), storage type (cold and conventional), trap shape (funnel and delta) and trap color (white and green). Significant differences were found among storage types and potato cultivars. Total moth catches were eight times higher in conventional storage than that of cold storage. Agria and Marfona cultivars had the highest capture, while Arinda and Sabalan cultivars had the lowest. There were no significant differences between trap shapes and trap colors. Results showed that trap catches in different cultivars were affected by storage conditions. In cold storages the highest and lowest captures were 7. 00 and 5. 58 moth/trap/week, whereas in conventional storages the highest and lowest captures were 59. 9 and 42. 3. The second experiment was aimed to assess the effect of cellulose mulch on the capturing of PTM in conventional storages containing Agria. Results showed that pheromone traps in control (no-mulch) treatments caught three times more PTM than the mulched treatments. It is concluded that lower numbers of PTM were caught in potatoes held in cold storages than that of conventional storages. Otherwise, in conventional storages, cellulose mulch can be applied to reduce PTM population density.

Effect of color and design of the trap, dosage of pheromone component in rubber capsule and trap height on the efficiency of Grapholita (Aspila) funebrana Treitschke, 1835 (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) pheromone traps were evaluated. The study was conducted in Bavanat of Fars province. A Randomized Complete Block Design used with four blocks and four replications in each block. To find the best trap color, yellow, green, brown, and white colors were tested. Using Duncan procedure, yellow and brown colors were significantly different from each other (P<0.01). Yellow and brown were ranked in a separate group, white and green were ranked in another group and were not significantly different (P<0.01). The majority of G. funebrana moths were caught in brown trap. To determine the best suitable trap design, three pheromone traps, Delta, Cylindrical and Wing shape, were tested. Delta with highest moth catches was superior in comparison with other trap designs. Three different heights, one meter from the ground, middle of the canopy of the tree and top of tree were tested on order to determine the role of the trap height on the efficiency of traps. The highest numbers of moths were caught in the traps which were positioned on the middle of the canopy of the trees. The doses of 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 mg doses of the pheromones formulated in Plant Protection Research Institute (PPRI) compared with a foreign rubber capsule (AgriSense, 1 mg). The results of the test revealed that the doses of 0.5 rubber capsule was superior and had more catch (P<0.01). The other doses were not significantly different (P<0.01).

The efficacy of sex pheromone traps for detection of Cydalima perspectalis (Walker) (Lepidoptera Crambidae) was assessed in 2017 in Cheshmeh-Bolbol Box Reservoir (Golestan province, Iran). Monitoring was done from May to September and three flight peaks were determined. No significant difference was observed between colors as well as heights of installing pheromone Traps for capturing C. perspectalis. The results confirmed the efficiency of pheromone traps in decreasing damages of Box tree moth. Also, best time for chemical and pheromone control was assessed.

Biological stimulation and pheromone communication play an important role in reproduction process in the behavior of mammals. Pheromones can perceive via olfactory system in the urine, feces or from dermal skin glands, to stimulate both endocrine and behavioral reactions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of (Z) -9-Tricosene on the number of primary spermatocyte cells, spermatogonia, number of Leydig cells, epididymis tube diameter and thickness of seminiferous tube with different concentrations in male wistar rats. In this study, four experimental groups were considered that consisted of three treatment groups and one control group. Treatment groups were in normal water condition and regular food and 1ml injection of three pheromone concentrations (100, 200, 300 micro gram per kilogram), respectively. And control group was exposed 1ml distilled water injected. Twenty eight injection was performed during eight weeks from above pheromone every other day, and some results were taken. The results of our study indicated that after treatment with (Z) -9-tricosene pheromone, meaningful difference was observed between the number of primary spermatocyte and Leydig cells in the four study groups (P<0.05). Therefore, different concentrations of pheromone have considerable effects on amounts of primary spermatocyte and Leydig cells. But, meaningful difference was not observed for other subjects (P>0.05). Indeed, different concentrations of pheromone have no considerable effects on amounts of spermatogony, thickness of seminiferous tube and epididymis tube diameter.