Periodicity of Female Sex Pheromone Titer and Release in Heliothis subflexa and H. virescens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Author： HEATH R. R. MCLAUGHLIN J. R. PROSHOLD F. TEAL P.E.A.

Publisher： Entomological Society of America

ISSN： 1938-2901

Source： Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Vol.84, Iss.2, 1991-03, pp. : 182-189

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

Amounts of sex pheromone components in extracts of pheromone glands of virgin female Heliothis virescens (F.) and Heliothis subflexa (Guenée) and in the emissions of pheromone from individual females were sampled every 2 h of a 10-h scotophase and analyzed by capillary gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectroscopy. Quantities of pheromone components in the emitted volatiles of H. subflexa from Florida were greatest during the 4th to 6th-h collection interval, whereas glands extracted with hexane at the 6th h contained the largest amounts of these chemicals. Pheromone-release behavior (calling) was at its maximum during the interval of the 4th to 6th h. The chemicals detected in the volatile collections from H. subflexa were: (Z)-11-hexadecenal (Z11–16:A1), (Z)-9-hexadecenal (Z9–16:A1), hexadecanal, (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-ol acetate, (Z)-9-hexadecen-1-ol acetate, (Z)-7- hexadecen-1-ol acetate, (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-ol (Z11–16:OH), and (Z)-9-hexadecen-1-ol. The pheromonal chemicals of H. virescens from Mississippi occurred in greatest quantity in emissions collected during the 6th to 8th h and 8th to 10th h intervals, and in the glands extracted at 8 and 10 h into the scotophase. H. virescens females produced and released pheromone over a broader period of time than H. subflexa females. The chemicals detected in the volatile collections from H. virescens were: tetradecanal (14:A1), (Z)-9-tetradecenal (Z9–14:A1), 16:A1, Z9–16:Al, Z11–16:A1, and Z11–16:OH. The alcohol/aldehyde and acetate/aldehyde ratios present in the extracts of glands from H. subflexa varied during the dark period, whereas those ratios in H. virescens were relatively constant. The ratios, relative to Z11–16:A1, of the acetates and of Z9–16:OH in extracts of glands of H. subflexa from Florida differed significantly from those of females from the U.S. Virgin Islands; the U.S. Virgin Islands glands contained 2.2 times more total amount of pheromonal chemicals than those from Florida. The ratio of Z11–16:OH, a critical chemical in sexual communication of H. subflexa, did not differ between the gland extracts obtained from two populations. Heliothis virescens from Mississippi and U.S. Virgin Islands contained similar amounts of total pheromonal components within their glands, and the relative ratios of components were the same between the populations.