Abstract: The invention relates to fatty acids conjugated to amino acids and their derivatives that elicit the production and/or release of plant volatiles compounds which attract and/or retain beneficial insects and deter herbivorous insect feeding. These conjugates also induce plants to increase production of pharmacologically important compounds such as taxol, increase fragrance of flowers, and increase production of plant essential oil. The invention also relates to methods for isolating the compounds from herbivorous insect oral secretions and to chemically synthesizing the compounds and their active derivatives.