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FEMALE COYNESS AND RECEPTIVITY DURING COURTSHIP IN PLODIA INTERPUNCTELLA (LEPIDOPTERA: PYRALIDAE)1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

G. G. Grant
G. G. Grant
Affiliation:
Insect Pathology Research Institute, Canadian Forestry Service, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
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Abstract

The receptivity of sexually mature Plodia interpunctella females during courtship was quantitatively analyzed. When males approached from the rear, two thirds of the females moved away from them on the first courtship encounter so that only 22% of these encounters led to copulation. In second encounters from the rear, however, 86% of the females turned and accepted the males, and 40% of them copulated. When the males approached head-on there was no observable difference in female receptiveness between first and second encounters; in each case over 90% of the females accepted the males and at least 55% of them copulated. Since the acceptance of the male by the female is dependent on her perception of a male sex pheromone released by scent glands on his forewings, she can probably identify the male immediately in head-on encounters but requires additional time or stimulation to do so in rear encounters.

Résumé

Au cours de la période des activités d’approche entreprises par les adultes de Plodia interpunctella en vue de leur reproduction, l’auteur analysa la réceptivité des femelles de cet insecte. Lors de la première rencontre, quand les mâles approchaient par-derrière, les deux tiers des femelles s’éloignèrent, et, de la sorte, seulement 22% des femelles copulèrent. Lors de la deuxième rencontre par approche par-derrière, cependant, 86% des femelles se retournèrent et acceptèrent les mâles, et 40% des femelles copulèrent. Quand les mâles approchaient par-devant, la réceptivité des femelles ne différait pas d’une rencontre à l’autre : dans chaque cas, plus de 90% des femelles acceptèrent les mâles et au moins 55% copulèrent. Vu que la réceptivité de la femelle dépend de sa perception d’une phéromone sexuelle émise par des glandes odoriférantes sises sur les ailes antérieures du mâle, elle peut probablement identifier le mâle sur-le-champ lorsque celui-ci l’approche par-devant, mais il lui faut plus de temps ou de stimulation lorsque le mâle l’approche par-derrière.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 108 , Issue 9 , September 1976 , pp. 975 - 979
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1976

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