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Periodical and Age-related Variation in Chemical Communication System of Black Cutworm Moth, Agrotis ipsilon

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Abstract

Periodical and age-related changes in sex pheromone signaling and response were studied in the black cutworm moth, Agrotis ipsilon. Females began to call on the first night after eclosion and called mainly during the second half of the scotophase. The percentage of females calling increased from 1- to 3-day-old females and decreased from 3- to 6-day-old females (P < 0.001). One-day-old females called later in the scotophase than 2- and 3-day-old females (P = 0.016). The quantity of Z7–12:Ac, Z9–14:Ac, and Z11–16:Ac in pheromone gland extracts of 1- to 6-day-old females varied with time of the photoregime, increasing during scotophase and decreasing during photophase (P ≤ 0.001). These oscillations were described by using equations containing angular terms with a period of 24 hr. The quantities of Z7–12:Ac and Z9–14:Ac, but not of Z11–16:Ac, varied with female age during the calling period (P < 0.001, P = 0.021, and P = 0.529, respectively). The ratios of Z9–14:Ac and Z11–16:Ac to Z7–12:Ac did not change with age or time during calling period. Male response to female pheromone in a wind tunnel increased with age and time of the scotophase. The type of response exhibited by the males (taking flight, oriented flight, and pheromone source contact) was affected by both age and time of the scotophase (P < 0.001).

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  1. Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40546-0091

    César Gemeno & Kenneth F. Haynes

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  1. César Gemeno
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Gemeno, C., Haynes, K.F. Periodical and Age-related Variation in Chemical Communication System of Black Cutworm Moth, Agrotis ipsilon. J Chem Ecol 26, 329–342 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005468203045

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