Calling behaviour and male response towards sex pheromone of poplar moth Condylorrhiza vestigialis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Abstract

The calling behaviour of virgin females Condylorrhiza vestigialis Guenée, 1854 (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) and the female pheromone gland extract activity were studied under laboratory conditions. Most of the females started calling from their Wrst scotophase period after emergence. Maximum calling occurred between the seventh and tenth hours of the scotophase period. The length of the calling increased with age until the fourth scotophase, but the onset of calling time did not diVer with age. The number of calling bouts increased signiWcantly with age, but the mean duration of each calling bout (20.8 min) did not vary with age. Extracts of pheromone glands evaluated in a Y-tube olfactometer attracted signiWcantly more males than control, 70 and 30%, respectively. Gas chromatographic-electroantennogram detection (GC-EAD) analysis of these extracts indicated the presence of a single EAD-active peak, the putative sex pheromone of the species. This pheromone compound may be suitable for monitoring populations densities of C. vestigialis, and for detection of the onset of the seasonal Xight period. An eYcient pheromone is of importance also with respect to current attempts to develop new control methods for this important pest of Populus spp. in Brazil.

Changes in the calling behaviour of female Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) as a function of body weight and adult feeding

“…Large females produce more attractive blends of sex pheromone than small females and males preferentially select and mate with large females (Jaffe et al, 2007;Xu & Wang, 2009;Harari et al, 2011). Results of the present study further emphasize the significance of body weight in determining mating success, since calling over prolonged periods may enhance the probability of females mating when competing for males (Ambrogi et al, 2009). A positive correlation between body weight and pheromone release is also reported (Huang et al, 1992).…”

“…Calling behaviour, in which females release sex pheromones to attract males, is a prerequisite for mating in moths. Many studies have shown that calling is affected by endogenous and exogenous factors, including temperature (Mozuraitis & Buda, 2006), photoperiod (Gomez & Rojas, 2006), age (Ambrogi et al, 2009), mating status (McNamara et al, 2009), presence of host or non-host plant leaves (Sadek & Anderson, 2007) and perception of the pheromone produced by conspecifics (Lim et al, 2007). Nevertheless, the effect of body weight on calling behaviour has rarely been addressed.…”

The Mothematics of Female Pheromone Signaling: Strategies for Aging Virgins

“…In most taxa, males perform the majority of mate searching (Barnes 1982;Kasumovic and Andrade 2004;Kasumovic et al 2007;Ambrogi et al 2008), and females are more likely than males to encounter more mates than required for optimal fitness (Kokko and Wong 2007). Encountering too many mates can be costly rather than merely superfluous (Arnqvist and Nilsson 2000;Kawagoe et al 2001).…”

“…Although finding a mate is paramount for all sexually reproducing organisms, effort spent searching for a mate is often markedly different between the sexes (Barnes 1982;Kasumovic and Andrade 2004;Kasumovic et al 2007;Ambrogi et al 2008). In most taxa, males perform the majority of mate searching (Barnes 1982;Kasumovic and Andrade 2004;Kasumovic et al 2007;Ambrogi et al 2008), and females are more likely than males to encounter more mates than required for optimal fitness (Kokko and Wong 2007).…”

Evidence for Sex-Specific Pheromones inUlomoides dermestoides(Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae)

“…The same methodology was used for a 12-h photo-scotophase aeration collection. Volatiles were eluted from Super Q with 4 mL of distilled hexane and concentrated to 600 μL (1 insect per 2 μL) under an argon stream (Ambrogi et al 2009), and 1 μL was injected in a GC-MS system (QP-2010 Plus, Shimadzu).…”