Differential Attraction of Heliothis subflexa Males to Synthetic Pheromone Lures in Eastern US and Western Mexico

Abstract

The mate attraction signal of Heliothis subflexa (Hs) females consists of a multicomponent sex pheromone blend. In this study, we assessed the intraspecific importance of three groups of compounds found in Hs pheromone glands: three acetate esters (Z7-16:OAc, Z9-16:OAc, and Z11-16:OAc), two 14-carbon aldehydes (14:Ald and Z9-14:Ald), and one 16-carbon alcohol (Z11-16:OH). Because the relative importance of pheromone components may vary in different regions, we conducted experiments in Eastern US (North Carolina) and Western Mexico (Jalisco). Our experiments in Eastern US showed that when the acetates were omitted from a 7-component blend in rubber septa, fewer males were caught in cone traps. Subsequent experiments conducted both in Eastern US and Western Mexico indicated that the addition of Z9-16:OAc alone does not increase attraction of male Hs, while Z11-16:OAc does. The Hs male response to Z7-16:OAc differed between the two regions. In Eastern US, significantly more males were attracted to a minimal three-component blend to which Z7-16:OAc was added, but this was not the case in Western Mexico. The two 14-carbon aldehydes also showed differential attraction between the two regions. 14:Ald and Z9-14:Ald appeared not to play any role in the sexual communication of Hs in Eastern US, but reduced trap catches in Western Mexico. The alcohol Z11-16:OH was tested in two concurrent dose-response studies with Hs males in Western Mexico, one using a minimal blend and one using a complete blend. The minimal three-component blend provided a more discriminating tool for delineating dose-response effects of Z11-16:OH than the seven-component blend. In the minimal blend, the optimal dose of Z11-16:OH was 1%, while in the complete blend similar numbers of males were caught when the alcohol ranged from 1 to 25%.

QTL analysis of sex pheromone blend differences between two closely related moths: Insights into divergence in biosynthetic pathways

“…a Summarized from Roelofs et al (1974), Tumlinson et al (1975Tumlinson et al ( , 1982, Klun et al (1979Klun et al ( , 1980, Vetter and Baker (1983), Ramaswamy et al (1985), Teal et al (1986), and Vickers and Baker (1997). b Summarized from Teal et al (1981), Klun et al (1982), Heath et al (1990), and Groot et al (2007). Jurenka, 2003;Choi et al, 2005), followed by the QTL found in Sheck et al (2006) (BCs old) and in this study.…”

Variation in Sexual Communication of the Tobacco Budworm,Heliothis virescens

“…Male response to varying sex pheromone blends was assessed in field trapping experiments in Clayton, NC, using Heliothis mesh traps arranged in a completely randomized block design (see Groot et al 2007 for more details). Two synthetic lure experiments were done, where the relative amount in the lure was varied of the: 1) critical secondary sex pheromone component Z9-tetradecenal (Z9-14:Ald) and 2) compound hexadecanal (16:Ald).…”

Primer registro de <i>Chloridea (Heliothis) subflexa</i> (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Heliothinae) en uchuva en Brasil

“…Groot et al (2007) suggested that monitoring with traps using pheromones is a key strategy for integrated C. subflexa management programs. It is noteworthy that chemical management must be focused on the adult insect once the caterpillars are protected by the calyx in the larval stage.…”

“…It occurs in tropical and subtropical regions of the American continents in the following countries: United States, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil (Heath et al, 1990;Poole et al, 1993;Bado et al, 2005;Groot et al, 2007;Groot et al, 2009;Pogue, 2013;De Souza et al, 2015). The areas of occurrence in Brazil include the Amazon, Northeastern region (Pernambuco, Paraíba), Southeastern (Rio de Janeiro) and Midwestern regions (Mato Grosso do Sul; Goiás) (Poole et al, 1993;De Souza et al, 2015).…”

“…Until now, the principal interest in this species consisted of studies on hybridization under laboratory conditions using C. virescens, naturally reducing population sizes of this pest-insect by inducing sterility of the males (Mitchell and Heath, 1987). However, in the last few years, the subflexus straw moth became the main pest-insect in tomatillo crops (Physalis ixocarpa Brotero) in Mexico (Groot et al, 2007;Pogue, 2013;Bautista-Martínez et al, 2015) and cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana L.) crops in Argentina (Bado et al, 2005). Therefore, the objective was to provide the first record of damage from C. subflexa on P. peruviana in Brazil.…”