Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T14:58:38.985Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Communication ecology of webbing clothes moth: evidence for male-produced aggregation signal(s)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

S. Takács  and
G. Gries
S. Takács
Affiliation:
Centre for Environmental Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
G. Gries*
Affiliation:
Centre for Environmental Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
*
1 Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed (E-mail: [email protected]).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

There are no definitive behavioural studies on the webbing clothes moth, Tineola bisselliella (Hum.) (Lepidoptera: Tineidae), that demonstrate the sex emitting or responding to communication signals. Roth and Willis (1952) reported male courtship (wing-fanning) behaviour ≤1 cm from an excised female pheromone gland, suggesting the presence of a female-produced sex pheromone that is effective at close range; however, isolated or groups of males also wing-fanned in the absence of females (Titschack 1922; Roth and Willis 1952; S Takács, personal observation). Titschack (1922) suggested that this behaviour may serve to either “disperse odorous substances” produced by males or indicate sexual excitement, while Roth and Willis (1952) considered wingfanning in the absence of females as “vacuum activity”. Male T. bisselliella responded more strongly to larval habitat and sought it earlier at night than females (Takács et al. 2001a, 2001b). Habitat selection by males could enhance their mating success by placing them near resources essential to females (Emlen and Oring 1977; Thornhill and Alcock 1983). If males were to produce communication signals, they may enhance the attractiveness of larval habitat to foraging females. Our objective was to determine whether male and (or) female T. bisselliella produce mate-attracting signals.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 133 , Issue 5 , October 2001 , pp. 725 - 727
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 2001

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

Emlen, S.T., Oring, L.W. 1977. Ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. Science (Washington, DC) 197: 215–23CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Griswold, G.H. 1944. Studies on the biology of the webbing clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella Hum.). Memoirs Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station 262Google Scholar
Mallet, J. 1984. Sex roles of the ghost moth, Hepialus humuli (L.) and a review of mating in the Hepialidae (Lepidoptera). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 79: 67–82CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roth, L.M., Willis, E.R. 1952. Observations on the behaviour of the webbing clothes moth. Journal of Economic Entomology 45: 20–5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schulz, S., Francke, W., König, W.A., Schurig, V., Mori, K., Kittmann, R., Schneider, D. 1990. Male pheromone of swift moth, Hepialus hecta L. (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology 16: 3511–21CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Takács, S., Gries, G., Gries, R. 2001 a. Communication ecology of webbing clothes moth: 1. Semiochemical-mediated location and suitability of larval habitat. Journal of Chemical Ecology. In pressGoogle ScholarPubMed
Takács, S., Gries, G., Gries, R. 2001 b. Communication ecology of webbing clothes moth: 2. Identification of semiochemicals mediating attraction of adults to larval habitat. Journal of Chemical Ecology. In pressGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thornhill, R., Alcock, J. 1983. The evolution of insect mating systems. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Titschack, E. 1922. Beiträge zu einer Monographie der Kleidermotte, Tineola bisselliella Hum. Leipzig, Germany: BorntraegerGoogle Scholar
Trematerra, P., Fontana, F. 1996. Monitoring of webbing clothes moth Tineola bisselliella (Hummel), by sex pheromone. Anzeiger fuer Schaedlingskunde und Pflanzenschutz 69: 119–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vet, L.E.M. 1983. Host-habitat location through olfactory cues by Leptopilina clavipes (Hartig) (Hym.: Eucoilidae), a parasitoid of fungivorous Drosophila: the influence of conditioning. Netherlands Journal of Zoology 33: 225–48CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodroffe, G.E. 1953. An ecological study of the insects and mites in the nests of certain birds in Britain. Entomological Research Bulletin 44: 739–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wunderer, H., Hansen, K., Bell, T.W., Schneider, D., Meinwald, J. 1986. Sex pheromones of two Asian moths (Creatonotos transiens, C. gangis; Lepidoptera – Arctiidae): behavior, morphology, chemistry and electrophysiology. Experimental Biology 46: 11–27Google ScholarPubMed
Zar, J.H. 1984. Biostatistical analysis. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall IncGoogle Scholar