In this article we present data from two experiments on the association between individual asymmetry and fitness in the winter moth. We performed a mate selection experiment and compared asymmetry and body size of mated and unmated males collected in the field. Individual asymmetry was not associated with copulation probability, adult life span, or body size, even though body size is a reliable in

Inter- and intraspecific amino acid variability in the pheromone binding proteins (PBPs) of the Lepidoptera is believed to contribute to a molecular mechanism of pheromone blend discrimination. Messenger RNA coding for PBP sequence in Agrotis segetum (Noctuidae) was cloned, and nucleotide and inferred amino acid variation across a 769-bp region of a PBP locus was studied in two populations. A sing

Broad-sense heritability of fluctuating asymmetry and developmental instability in the winter moth were analysed in a full-sib breeding experiment. Effects of both genetic background and common environment on both tibia FA (measured for the three pairs of legs) and body size were studied. As body size has previously been shown to be a reliable indicator of larval feeding success and expected fitne

Analysis of female sex pheromone gland extracts of the turnip moth (or common cutworm), Agrotis segetum, from Zimbabwe revealed three compounds previously identified as sex pheromone components in the Swedish population, namely (Z)-5-decenyl acetate (Z5-10:OAc), (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate (Z7- 12:OAc), and (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate (Z9-14:OAc). However, the proportions from the Zimbabwean population

Measurements of single neurone activity in the peripheral pheromone receptors of male Agrotis segetum (Denis and Schiffermuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) were performed in a wind tunnel using a portable electrophysiological recording unit. Filter paper and rubber septa loaded with synthetic sex pheromone, as well as individual conspecific female glands, were used as pheromone sources. Recordings,

Pheromone gland extracts from calling female Plodia interpunctella contained at least seven compounds that consistently elicited electroantennographic responses from male antennae upon gas chromatographic analysis. Three of these compounds were found to be the previously identified gland constituents, i.e., (Z,E)-9,12-tetradecadienyl acetate (Z9,E12-14:OAc), (Z,E)-9,12-tetradecadienal (Z9,E12-14:A

Understanding the mechanisms that determine the development of a bilaterally symmetrical trait is crucial to the interpretation of patterns of fluctuating asymmetry (FA). Experimental and theoretical studies have indicated that feedback mechanisms both within and between developing traits, may participate in the developmental control of asymmetry. This study provides evidence that naturally occurr

The leaf volatiles emitted from four nonhost tree species of lps typographus, i.e. Betula pendula, B. pubescens, Populus tremula, and Sambucus nigra, were collected outdoors by headspace sampling in situ and analyzed by GC-MS. Three major classes of compounds, aliphatics [mainly green-leaf volatiles (GLVs)], monoterpenes, and sesquiterpenes, existed in all the deciduous tree species investigated.

Among the sex pheromone components of the turnip moth, Agrotis segetum, (Z)-5-decenyl acetate, (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate and (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate are biosynthetically derived from palmitic acid by Δ11-desaturation, chain- shortening, reduction and acetylation. Females of a Zimbabwean population produce the three components in a 78:20:2 ratio, while Swedish females produce the three components

Antennal lobe neurones were investigated in the pyralid moth Ostrinia nubilalis using intracellular recording and staining techniques. Response characteristics of antennal lobe neurones from males in the so-called E and Z strains, in F1 hybrids and in parental backcrosses were studied. The antennal lobe of a male O. nubilalis comprises approximately 30 ordinary glomeruli and three enlarged glomeru

The genetic basis of the differences in female pheromone blend ratio and male behavioral response in the turnip moth, Agrotis segetum, was examined by crossing individuals derived from Scandinavian and Zimbabwean populations. These two populations differ both in the ratio of the three major female pheromone components. Z5-10:OAc, Z7-12: OAc, and Z9-14: OAc and in the behavioral response of the mal

The behaviour of Grapholita molesta (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) males was studied in overlapping sex pheromone plumes in a wind tunnel. The ultimate aim of the study was to assess the effect of different treatments on male behaviour and consider the observed changes within the context of the suggested mechanisms underlying mating disruption. Two baits were placed either in series or paralle

Species specificity of moth sex pheromones is in many cases achieved by means of specific blends rather than by specific components. Two pheromone strains of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, use (E)- and (Z)-11-tetradecenyl acetate in different ratios as their pheromone, but show the same ratio of the pheromone precursors (70:30 E/Z-11-tetradecenoic acid). The hypothesis that the ratio

Pheromone compounds so far identified from most geometrid moths consist of all-Z diene, triene, or tetraene hydrocarbons with chain lengths of C17 to C21, and their monoepoxide derivatives biosynthesized from linoleic and linolenic acids. The present study reports the occurrence of olefinic acetates as sex pheromones in three species of Geometridae. (Z,Z)-9,11- tetradecadienyl acetate and (Z,Z)-7,

A difference in female pheromone production and male behavioral response has previously been found in two populations of the turnip moth, Agrotis segetum, originating from Sweden and Zimbabwe, respectively. In this study, we investigated the pheromone response of antennal lobe interneurons of males of the two populations by intracellular recordings, stimulating with single pheromone components and

The major difference in pheromone production between the so-called E and Z strains of the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis is controlled by two alleles at a single autosomal locus. E-strain females produce an (E)-11- tetradecenyl acetate pheromone with 1-3% of the Z isomer, whereas Z-strain females produce the opposite blend. In laboratory-reared insects we found that F1 females produced, on

Pheromone production in the female turnip moth, Agrotis segetum, is under the control of a brain factor. This factor was demonstrated to be a proteinaceous substance termed pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide‐like substance (PBAN‐like substance). The sex pheromone of Swedish A. segetum includes (Z)‐5‐decenyl acetate, (Z)‐7‐dodecenyl acetate, and (Z)‐9‐tetradecenyl acetate as major compo

The substrate specificity of the acetyltransferase and the reductase enzyme systems used by Ostrinia furnacalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in pheromone biosynthesis was studied in vivo by topical application of precursors to pheromone glands. Each of the tetradecenols, varying in double bond position (from 7 to 13) and geometry of the double bond, was converted to the corresponding acetate by the ac