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The Role of Hormones in the Reproductive Behavior of Female Wild Silkmoths

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Experimental Analysis of Insect Behaviour

Abstract

Insects which do not feed in the imaginai stage must give a high priority to early reproduction. Therefore, mating and oviposition must occur shortly after adult emergence. The wild silkmoths show pronounced adaptations towards this end. The female emerges with nearly the full complement of mature eggs (Telfer and Rutberg 1960). Also, at the time of emergence she has a reservoir of sex pheromone (Preisner 1968) with which she can attract the male from distances as far as 2 miles (Rau and Rau 1929).

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Author notes

  1. L. M. Riddiford

    Present address: Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Biological Laboratories, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., USA

    L. M. Riddiford

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  1. L. M. Riddiford
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Entomology, CSIRO, Canberra City, A.C.T., 2601, Australia

    L. Barton Browne

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© 1974 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg

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Riddiford, L.M. (1974). The Role of Hormones in the Reproductive Behavior of Female Wild Silkmoths. In: Barton Browne, L. (eds) Experimental Analysis of Insect Behaviour. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-86666-1_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-86666-1_20

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-86668-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-86666-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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