Variation in Sexual Communication of the Tobacco Budworm,<i>Heliothis virescens</i>

Groot, Astrid T.; Blanco, Carlos A.; Claßen, Alice; Inglis, O.; Santangelo, Richard G.; López, J. D.; Heckel, David G.; Schal, Coby

doi:10.3958/059.035.0317

Cited by 13 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…A common minor compound found in sex pheromone glands is 16:Ald found in all heliothine moths investigated so far (Table S2), and sometimes in a relatively large amount compared to other minor components (Cork et al 1992;El-Sayed 2014;Klun et al 1980a, b). The role of 16:Ald in attraction of males has been investigated in H. virescens (Groot et al 2010;Klun et al 1980a;Ramaswamy et al 1985) and H. assulta (Cork et al 33-36, females N = 39-42). Different letters above the bars indicate significant differences among different doses within each sex (ANOVA followed by Fisher LSD, P = 0.001), and asterisks indicate significant differences between males and females for the given dose and compound (t-test, P = 0.001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tarsi of Male Heliothine Moths Contain Aldehydes and Butyrate Esters as Potential Pheromone Components

et al. 2016

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The Noctuidae are one of the most speciose moth families and include the genera Helicoverpa and Heliothis. Females use (Z)-11-hexadecenal as the major component of their sex pheromones except for Helicoverpa assulta and Helicoverpa gelotopoeon, both of which utilize (Z)-9-hexadecenal. The minor compounds found in heliothine sex pheromone glands vary with species, but hexadecanal has been found in the pheromone gland of almost all heliothine females so far investigated. In this study, we found a large amount (0.5-1.5 μg) of hexadecanal and octadecanal on the legs of males of four heliothine species, Helicoverpa zea, Helicoverpa armigera, H. assulta, and Heliothis virescens. The hexadecanal was found on and released from the tarsi, and was in much lower levels or not detected on the remaining parts of the leg (tibia, femur, trochanter, and coxa). Lower amounts (0.05-0.5 μg) of hexadecanal were found on female tarsi. This is the first known sex pheromone compound to be identified from the legs of nocturnal moths. Large amounts of butyrate esters (about 16 μg) also were found on tarsi of males with lower amounts on female tarsi. Males deposited the butyrate esters while walking on a glass surface. Decapitation did not reduce the levels of hexadecanal on the tarsi of H. zea males, indicating that hexadecanal production is not under the same neuroendocrine regulation system as the production of female sex pheromone. Based on electroantennogram studies, female antennae had a relatively high response to hexadecanal compared to male antennae. We consider the possible role of aldehydes and butyrate esters as courtship signals in heliothine moths.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tarsi of Male Heliothine Moths Contain Aldehydes and Butyrate Esters as Potential Pheromone Components

et al. 2016

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“…Sexual selection for higher production of the bioactive components Z9-14:Ald and Z11-16:Ald [45] would favour heterozygous females and could maintain a polymorphism at the repressor locus, providing for the maintenance of standing genetic variation in pheromone composition in the population. We found H. virescens females expressing the unusual phenotype (high relative amounts of 16:Ald and lower amounts of Z11-16:Ald) in all populations, across regions and years, albeit at low frequency (see table 1).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some females, we even found 16:Ald to be much more abundant than Z11-16:Ald. This variation was puzzling, because 16:Ald plays only a minor role in the attraction of H. virescens males [44][45][46]. To gain insight into the possible causes and consequences of this variation, we selected for two extreme phenotypes to assess heritability, we determined the genetic basis of the pheromone phenotypes and we assessed the attraction of males to the different female phenotypes in the field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Within-population variability in a moth sex pheromone blend: genetic basis and behavioural consequences

et al. 2014

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Evolutionary diversification of sexual communication systems in moths is perplexing because signal and response are under stabilizing selection in many species, and this is expected to constrain evolutionary change. In the moth Heliothis virescens, we consistently found high phenotypic variability in the female sex pheromone blend within each of four geographically distant populations. Here, we assess the heritability, genetic basis and behavioural consequences of this variation. Artificial selection with field-collected moths dramatically increased the relative amount of the saturated compound 16:Ald and decreased its unsaturated counterpart Z11-16:Ald, the major sex pheromone component (high line). In a cross between the high-and low-selected lines, one quantitative trait locus (QTL) explained 11-21% of the phenotypic variance in the 16:Ald/Z11-16:Ald ratio. Because changes in activity of desaturase enzymes could affect this ratio, we measured their expression levels in pheromone glands and mapped desaturase genes onto our linkage map. A delta-11-desaturase had lower expression in females producing less Z11-16:Ald; however, this gene mapped to a different chromosome than the QTL. A model in which the QTL is a trans-acting repressor of delta-11 desaturase expression explains many features of the data. Selection favouring heterozygotes which produce more unsaturated components could maintain a polymorphism at this locus.

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“…To ensure that our findings could be attributed to this male pheromone compound and not to any odor that changes the female’s odor, we also perfumed virgin females with 100 ng hexadecanal (16:Ald). This compound is present in the female sex pheromone gland3940 and on the male’s tarsi41 and perceived by both males and females42, but it has not been shown to affect male attraction43.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental evidence for chemical mate guarding in a moth

Hosseini

Wijk

Gao

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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In polyandrous species, males seek to maximize their reproductive output by monopolizing their mate. Often the male transfers substances to the female that suppress her sexual receptivity or antagonize the behavior of competing males; both are usually transferred in seminal fluids and represent forms of chemical mate guarding. In moths, more long-range female sex pheromones have been identified than in any other animal group, and males often display with close-range sex pheromones, yet odor-based post-copulatory mate guarding has not been described in moths so far. We tested the hypothesis that the male sex pheromone in the noctuid moth Heliothis virescens perfumes the female and functions as an anti-aphrodisiac. Indeed, virgin females perfumed with male pheromone extract, or with its main component, mated significantly less than control virgin females, and this effect persisted for two successive nights. This chemical mate guarding strategy was disadvantageous for H. virescens females, because the reproductive output of twice-mated females was significantly higher than that of once-mated females. Since the female and male sex pheromones are biosynthetically related in this and other moth species, chemical mate guarding may also impose selection pressure on the long-range female sex pheromone channel and consequently affect the evolution of sexual communication.

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Variation in Sexual Communication of the Tobacco Budworm,Heliothis virescens

Cited by 13 publications

References 14 publications

Tarsi of Male Heliothine Moths Contain Aldehydes and Butyrate Esters as Potential Pheromone Components

Tarsi of Male Heliothine Moths Contain Aldehydes and Butyrate Esters as Potential Pheromone Components

Within-population variability in a moth sex pheromone blend: genetic basis and behavioural consequences

Experimental evidence for chemical mate guarding in a moth

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