Bombykol is a pheromone released by the female silkworm moth to attract mates. It is also the sex pheromone in the wild silk moth (Bombyx mandarina).[1][2] Discovered by Adolf Butenandt in 1959, it was the first pheromone to be characterized chemically.[3]
Minute quantities of this pheromone can be used per acre of land to confuse male insects about the location of their female partners. It can thus serve as a lure in traps to remove insects effectively without spraying crops with large amounts of pesticides. Butenandt named the substance after the moth's Latin name Bombyx mori.[4]
In vivo it appears that bombykol is the natural ligand for a pheromone binding protein, BmorPBP, which escorts the pheromone to the pheromone receptor.[5]
^Leal, Walter S. (2005). "Pheromone Reception". In Schulz, Stefan (ed.). The Chemistry of Pheromones and Other Semiochemicals II. Topics in Current Chemistry. Vol. 240. Springer. pp. 1–36. doi:10.1007/b98314. ISBN9783540213086. Retrieved March 2, 2013.