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EFFECTS OF AGE, EGG DEVELOPMENT, AND MATING ON CALLING BEHAVIOR OF THE BERTHA ARMYWORM, MAMESTRA CONFIGURATA WALKER (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE)1,2

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

M.A. Howlader
Affiliation:
Agriculture Canada Research Station, 195 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2M9
G.H. Gerber*
Affiliation:
Agriculture Canada Research Station, 195 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2M9
*
4 Author to whom reprint requests should be sent.

Abstract

The effects of age, egg development, and mating on calling behavior of the bertha armyworm, Mamestra configurata Walker, were studied at 20°C, 60% RH, and a 16-h L: 8-h D photoperiod. Most virgin females called and copulated for the first time during the second or third scotophase after emergence. The first copulation was 17.0 ± 0.2 h (mean±SE) long and was terminated within 1 h after lights off in the scotophase following the initiation of copulation. The ovaries contained the first chorionated eggs before the beginning of the second scotophase after emergence. The first egg laying occurred during the same scotophase in which the first copulation was terminated, i.e. scotophase three or four. Almost 75% of the eggs were laid by the end of the seventh scotophase after emergence. Mated females resumed calling after a refractory period of about 2 days. Once calling was resumed after copulation, most females laid eggs and called nightly, with egg laying occurring during the first 5–6 h and calling during the last 2–3 h of the scotophase. Mated females called for a shorter period during each scotophase than virgin females of the same age (1–3 h vs. 4–6 h). In virgin females, the diel periodicity of calling was advanced and the length of the daily calling period was increased with age until the seventh scotophase after emergence; thereafter, both remained relatively unchanged.

Résumé

Les effets de l’âge, du développement des oeufs et de l’accouplement sur le comportement d’appel sexuel de la légionnaire bertha, Mamestra configurata Walker, ont été étudiés à 20°C, 60% d’humidité relative et une photopériode de 16 h d’éclairement et de 8 h d’obscurité. La plupart des femelles vierges ont appelé et copule pour la première fois au cours de la deuxième ou troisième scotophase après l’émergence. La première copulation a duré 17,0±0,2 h (moyenne ± erreur-type) et s’est terminée dans les 60 min après la mise à l’obscurité dans la scotophase suivant le début de la copulation. Les ovaires contenaient les premiers œufs chorionés avant le début de la deuxième scotophase après l’émergence. La première ponte a eu lieu au cours de la même scotophase dans laquelle la première copulation s’est terminée, c’est-à-dire la troisième ou la quatrième. Près de 75% des oeufs ont été pondus avant la fin de la septième scotophase après l’émergence. Les femelles accouplées se sont remises à l’appel sexuel après une période réfractaire d’environ 2 jours. À la reprise de l’appel après la copulation, la plupart des femelles ont pondu et ont fait l’appel de nuit, la ponte se produisant au cours des 5–6 premières heures, et l’appel, au cours des 2–3 dernières heures de la scotophase. Les femelles accouplées ont appelé pendant une période plus brève de chaque scotophase que les femelles vierges du même âge (1–3 h contre 4–6 h). Chez les femelles vierges, la périodicité quotidienne de l’appel a été devancée et la durée de l’appel quotidien s’est accrue avec l’âge jusqu’à la septième scotophase après l’émergence, ces deux facteurs demeurant par la suite relativement inchangés.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1986

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Footnotes

1

Contribution No. 1219, Agriculture Canada Research Station, 195 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2M9.

2

From a thesis submitted by M.A. Howlader to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. University of Manitoba, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

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