Effect of sex-pheromone concentration on behavior of three strains of western spruce budworm male moths

Abstract

The responses of male western spruce budworm moths,Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman, to a range of concentrations of the major sex pheromone, 92∶8 (E/Z)-11-tetradecenal (Ald), in polyvinyl chloride lures, were observed using the electroantennogram technique, a flight tunnel, and field-trapping bioassays. The responses to virgin female moths were also observed in the flight tunnel and field bioassays. The moths were from three strains: a nondiapausing laboratory colony; field-collected wild budworm; and laboratory-wild crosses. The mean peak amplitude of antennal response and the time required for the electroantennogram signal to return to the baseline after stimulation (lag) increased with Ald concentration in both laboratory and wild moths. However, at Ald concentrations of 0.005% and greater, the lag period of the wild male's antennae was significantly shorter than that of the laboratory male's. The mean number of moths caught in the field in delta sticky traps increased with Ald concentration, but the number of moths caught per trap was not significantly different between concentrations of 0.005 % and 0.5 %. The threshold concentration required to elicit upwind flight in the flight tunnel was between 0.0005 and 0.005% Ald; peak response occurred to 0.05 % Ald but was not significantly different from that to 0.005 % or 0.5% Ald. Moths from all three populations significantly reduced their net upwind groundspeed as they approached the pheromone lure. When pheromone concentration was increased, the net upwind groundspeed of laboratory and lab-wild moths, but not wild moths, was significantly reduced between 2 m and 1 m downwind from the pheromone lure. The three populations of moths differed significantly in the percentage of wing-fanning and copulatory attempts, and in the net upwind groundspeed of flight from 2 m to 1 m downwind from the lure.