All eight optical isomers of 3,7‐dimethyl‐2‐pentadecanyl acetate (diprionyl acetate), of high optical purity (>97.4%), were tested for a behavioural activity on male pine sawflies, Neodiprion sertifer (Geoffr.) (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae), in northern Europe. Males were strongly attracted to (2S, 3S, 7S)‐diprionyl acetate. Addition of more than 0.1% of the (2S, 3R, 7R)‐isomer reduced the catch and above 2% the attraction was completely inhibited. Contrary to what has been reported for North American and Japanese populations, so significant synergistic effect of small amounts of the (2S, 3R, 7R)‐isomer could be demonstrated. The effects of addition of the other six optical isomers alone or in combinations, were also studied, but none was found to be a synergist. The (2S, 3R, 7S)‐isomer had a weak inhibitory effect, and completely inhibited the attraction to the (2S, 3S, 7S)‐isomer when applied in about equal amounts as the attractant. In some cases a reduction in catch was noted when other isomers were tested, but this could be attributed to the very small amounts of the inhibitory (2S, 3R, 7R)‐isomer present in these isomers. 1992 The Netherlands Entomological Society