Volatile exudates from the oribatid mite, Platynothrus peltifer.

Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of whole body extracts of Platynothrus peltifer, a desmonomatan oribatid mite that belongs to the family Camisiidae, exhibited a basic profile of seven compounds, comprising the monoterpenes neral, geranial, and nerylformate; the aromatics 3-hydroxybenzene-1,2-dicarbaldehyde (= gamma-acaridial) and 2-formyl-3-hydroxybenzyl formate (= rhizoglyphinyl formate), and two unsaturated Cl7-hydrocarbons, 6,9-heptadecadiene and 8-heptadecene. Neryl formate, gamma-acaridial, and rhizoglyphinyl formate were the main components and amounted to 80% of the extracts. With the exception of y-acaridial (relative abundance varied considerably among samples), this chemical profile was consistently present in extracts of P.