Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T19:00:36.615Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Courtship and mating behaviour of the African armyworm, Spodoptera exempta (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Syed Khasimuddin
Syed Khasimuddin
Affiliation:
The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, P.O. Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Laboratory-bred males of Spodoptera exempta (Wlk.) required at least 48 h after emergence before responding to females, whereas wild-caught males matured in 24 to 36 h; laboratory-bred females took 60 h, whereas wild-caught females were sexually attractive to males 48 h after emergence. Mating only occurred between 00.30 and 03.00 h. Females exhibited a courtship behaviour involving ‘calling’, and the males exhibited a series of pre-mating behavioural responses, probably characteristic of physiological levels of excitement by the female's ‘calling’. Experiments showed that a male can mate with and inseminate only one female each night. The number of females inseminated by any male was related to the male's life-span and was very variable. The fertility of eggs laid by a female was not affected by the age of the male she mated with. A single mating was sufficient for the fertilisation of a life-time's production of eggs by a female.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 68 , Issue 2 , July 1978 , pp. 195 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beevor, P. S., Hall, D. R., Lester, R., Poppi, R. G., Read, J. S. & Nesbitt, B. F. (1975).Sex pheromones of the armyworm moth, Spodoptera exempta (Wlk.).—Experientia 31, 22–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bot, J. (1967). An artificial rearing medium for three noctuids of enonomic importance belonging to the genus Spodoptera (Lepidoptera).—J. ent. Soc. sth Afr. 29, 157–160.Google Scholar
Brown, E. S. & Swaine, G. (1966). New evidence on the migration of moths of the African armyworm, Spodoptera exempta (Wlk.) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae).—Bull. ent. Res. 56, 671–684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, E. S., Betts, E. & Rainey, R. C. (1969). Seasonal changes in distribution of the African armyworm, Spodoptera exempta (Wlk.) (Lep., Noctuidae), with special reference to eastern Africa.—Bull. ent. Res. 58, 661–728.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
COPR (1974). Report, January—December 1973.—Rept. Cent, overseas Pest Res.Google Scholar
Fujiie, A. & Miyashita, K. (1973). Further studies on the reiterative mating ability in males of Spodoptera litura F. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).—Appl. Ent. Zool. 8, 131–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganyard, M. C. & Brady, U. E. (1971). Inhibition of attraction and cross-attraction by interspecific sex pheromone communication in Lepidoptera.—Nature, Lond. 234, 415–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganyard, M. C. & Brady, U. E. (1972). Interspecific attraction in Lepidoptera in field.—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 65, 1279–1282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hattingh, C. C. (1941). The biology and ecology of the armyworm (Laphygma exempta) and its control in South Africa.—Sci. Bull. Dep. Agric. S. Afric. no. 217, 50 pp.Google Scholar
Jacobson, L. A. (1965). Mating and oviposition of the pale western cutworm, Agrotis orthogonia Morrison (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), in the laboratory.—Can. Ent. 97, 994–1000.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaae, R. S., Shorey, H. H., McFarland, S. U. & Gaston, L. K. (1973). Sex pheromones of Lepidoptera. XXXVII. Role of sex pheromones and other factors in reproductive isolation among ten species of Noctuidae.—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 66, 444–448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miyashita, K. & Fuwa, M. (1972). The occurrence time, reiterative ability, and duration of mating in Spodoptera litura F. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).—Appl. ent. Zool. 7, 171–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roelofs, W. L. & Comeau, A. (1969). Sex pheromone specificity: taxonomic and evolutionary aspects in Lepidoptera.—Science, N. Y. 165, 398–400.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shorey, H. H., Gaston, L. K. & Fukoto, T. R. (1964). Sex pheromone of Noctuid moths. I. A quantitative bioassay for the sex pheromone of Trichoplusia ni (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).—J. econ. Ent. 57, 252–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar