Introduction**  
Insect pest are responsible for up to 20% of crop losses worldwide [1], and losses are projected to increase by 10% to 25% per degree of global mean surface warming [2]. However, as the effects of the ecological and climate change crises become more apparent by the day [3, 4], use of pesticides is an increasingly untenable solution [5], and we are still looking for sustainable alternatives of crop protection. Semicochemical-based behavioral manipulation methods have therefore been increasingly implemented in pest management [6, 7]. In moth pests, for instance, long-range female sex pheromones are well-established for monitoring, mass-trapping, and mating disruption [6]. However, female sex pheromones only affect males, while females play the most prominent role in population dynamics [8]. Behavioral manipulation methods will thus be more efficient if they target not only males but also females [9]. For the development of such new strategies, knowledge of biological active compounds is essential. However, natural stimuli such as host plant odors are often complex mixtures containing hundreds of compounds. Finding and identifying those that are biologically active is difficult and time-consuming. Here, we investigate a combination of electrophysiological, analytical, and behavioral techniques with the aim to improve the efficiency of this process. Both female and male moths perceive host plant volatiles via specialized olfactory receptor neurons, and use this information to discriminate between suitable and unsuitable food sources, rendezvous sites for mating, or larval food plants [10; 11; 12; 13]. These sensory systems, often both highly selective and extremely sensitive, can be used to quickly screen complex odor mixtures. Signals from receptor neurons are recorded in real time by sending the effluent from a classic gas chromatography (GC) analysis over the antenna of a living insect, such that bioactive signals are unambiguously detected. The setup is called GC-EAD (GC-electroantennographic detection) [14]. This quick screening can effectively be combined with advanced mass spectrometry (Orbitrap MS). Since its commercialization in 2015, GC-Orbitrap MS has revolutionized the identification of unknown unknowns in various application domains. The particular detection principle of the instrument, in which mass fragments are detected at high resolution in an orbital ion trap, allows to achieve unmatched spectral resolution and mass accuracies. In untargeted mode, the technique has been applied in food analysis [15], environmental analysis [16], metabolomics [17], exposomics [18], etc. In the present study, we applied GC-EAD combined with GC-Orbitrap MS for the first time for in situ identification of volatile components that evoke electrophysiological and behavioral responses in carob moth, _Ectomyelois ceratoniae_ ([PERSON]) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). This species is a destructive polyphagous pest that attacks the fruits of a variety of commercial produce, such as pomegranate, dates, and pistachio, both pre- and post-harvest. It is recognized as the most important pest in the date industry in the United States [19; 20], a key pest of almond in Australia [21], and frequently a problem in stored fruits and nuts in Europe [22]. In the Middle East, _E. ceratoniae_ is the most damaging pest of pomegranate, _Punica granatum_ L. (Lythraceae), in almost all pomegranate production areas, and can cause 30-80% yield loss [23; 24; 25; 26; 27]. Pomegranate, its main host in the Middle East, continuously flowers during the growing season, and different phenological stages, from fresh flowers to mature fruits, are present when carob moths are active. In the Middle East, carob moth activity starts mid-season (June-August), when most pomegranate fruits are of mature size [25; 27; 28] and peels of many fruits are naturally cracking [24; 29; 30]. It is, however, unknown which odor compounds from the different phenological stages influence orientation and oviposition.