SOME ASPECTS OF THE COURTSHIP BEHAVIOUR OF EPHESTIA CAUTELLA (WALKER) (LEPIDOPTERA: PHYCITIDAE)

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Abstract
Aspects of the courtship behaviour of Ephestia cautella are described and illustrated. A ‘fronting‐up’ sequence, in which precise relationships develop between the heads, antennae and labial palps of male and female, serves to correctly orient the male's genital thrust. Females show a range of acceptance/rejection postures which influence the ability of males to complete ‘fronting‐up’ and /or to achieve ‘genital contact'. The female's response to the courting male is interpreted as the net product of two, largely independent, ‘central’ states, i.e., ‘sexual receptivity’ and a more general form of ‘arousal’ expressed in its stronger forms as locomotor tendencies.