Christopher,
        Thanks for the questions -- I know it sounds a bit confusing
about the Nasonov pheromone.  The problem is in terminology.  Actually
citral is two components, a cis double bond isomer and a trans double
bond isomer.  Both are called citral, hence the terms citrals is
sometimes used.  With the acids, the exact same situation applies --
there are two isomers which differ only in whether the double bond is cis
or trans.  Unfortunately these have different names! (one called nerolic
acid and one called geranic acid).  Thus the final pheromone has 1/3
nerolic + geranic acids (and the other two-thirds consist of equal
quantities of geraniol and of the citrals (the mix of cis and trans).
        Hope that helps.  Happy bee hunting!
 
Justin
 
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Justin O. Schmidt
USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center
2000 East Allen Rd., Tucson, Arizona  85719, U.S.A.
Office:   520 670-6380, extension 109  voicemail)
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For Bee & Pollination information on the World Wide Web
Please visit us at http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov/
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