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Comparison of sex pheromone composition and pheromone-mediated male behavior of laboratory-reared and wildHeliothis zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

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Abstract

Analysis of ovipositor extracts of lab-reared (> 120 generations) and wildHeliothis zea indicated small but significant differences in the percent composition of the four aldehyde components of the sex pheromone. (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-ol (Z11–16∶OH) was present in both populations and amounted to only 2.8% of the total pheromone. There was no significant difference in four of the six behavioral categories between lab-reared and wild males exposed to the four-component sex pheromone in the flight tunnel. Ninety and 84% males flew to the pheromone source, respectively. However, with the addition ofZ11–16∶OH to the pheromone blend, none of the wild males flew upwind to the stimulus source, whereas 36% of the lab-reared males completed the flight. It is suggested that prolonged inbreeding in closed quarters rendered these males less discriminating to qualitative differences in a pheromone blend.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Insect Chemical Ecology Laboratory Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 20705, Beltsville, Maryland

    A. K. Raina & R. L. Ridgway

  2. Southem Field Crop Insect Management Laboratory Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 38776, Stoneville, Mississippi

    E. A. Stadelbacher

Authors
  1. A. K. Raina
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  2. E. A. Stadelbacher
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  3. R. L. Ridgway
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Raina, A.K., Stadelbacher, E.A. & Ridgway, R.L. Comparison of sex pheromone composition and pheromone-mediated male behavior of laboratory-reared and wildHeliothis zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). J Chem Ecol 15, 1259–1265 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01014828

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01014828

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