Increased Pheromone Production in Wild Tobacco Budworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Exposed to Host Plants and Host Chemicals

Abstract
Compared with the laboratory colony females, 1st-generation feral (wild F 1 ) females of the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens (F.), produced little sex pheromone unless exposed to a host plant. Pheromone production in wild F 1 females was induced by both cotton, Cossypium hirsutum L., squares and tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum L., buds. With either of the hosts, physical contact evoked a significantly higher response than did exposure to volatile compounds from these plant parts. Of the 12 tobacco chemicals and a corn, Zea mays L., silk extract tested with wild F 1 females, oxidized α + β -4,8,13-duvatriene-l,3-diols (oxy-DVT-diols), α -4,8,13-duvatriene-l,3-diol ( α -DVT-diol), (13E)-labda-13-ene-8 α ,15-diol (labdenediol), and the com silk extract evoked high pheromone production. Pheromone production may require host plant-based signals to assure that a suitable host is available for oviposition by the female, once it is mated.

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