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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]).
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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

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