The effect of hybridization on the periodicity of sex pheromone release of Euxoa species (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

ABSTRACT. The periodicities of sex pheromone release by reciprocal F₁ hybrid females obtained from laboratory matings between Euxoa declarata (Walker) and E. rockburnei Hardwick were found to be dependent upon the parental cross. The period of sex pheromone release by females from the E. declarata (female) × E. rockburnei (male) cross paralleled that of the maternal parent species, E. declarata. However, female hybrid E. rockburnei (female) × E. declarata (male) had a prolonged calling period which intersected the pheromone release periods of both parental species and peaked later than that of E. declarata. These results indicate that the circadian periodicity of calling in these species is controlled by autosomal genes and a matroklinal inheritance factor.     

Characterization of entomopox virions of the army cutworm,Euxoa auxiliaris (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Virions were released from virus-containing inclusions (VCI) of an entomopoxvirus of the army cutworm, Euxoa auxiliaris, with carbonate-thioglycolate solution. Knoblike projections present on the surface of the viral envelope were removed by digestion with trypsin. Trypsin-treated virions were homogeneous in both sucrose and CsCl gradients. The virions were similar to vertebrate poxviruses in morphology, contained 1.13 ± 0.3% DNA and had a buoyant density of 1.261 ± 0.003 gm/cm³ in CsCl. The virion preparations were infective and possessed RNA polymerase activity. Of eight species of Lepidoptera tested, only the species from which the virus was originally isolated proved susceptible to infection.     

The African species of Heliocheilus Grote (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract. The heliothine genus Heliocheilus Grote is recalled from synonymy with Heliothis Ochsenheimer on the basis of a forewing modification in the male. Raghuva Moore and Canthylidia Butler are synonymized with Heliocheilus. Six species of Heliocheilus are recognized to occur in Africa, the adults of five are redescribed and the sixth described as new. Figures of the adults and genitalia of all species are provided. Lectotypes of Raghuva multiradiata Hampson, Raghuva thomalae Gaede, Raghuva albipunctella de Joannis and Heliocheilus mekrana Brandt are designated, and twelve specific synonymies are proposed.     

A new Stenoloba Staudinger species from China (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Bryophilinae)

A new species of Stenoloba, Stenoloba viridicollarsp. n. (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) is described from Sichuan, China. Illustrations of adults and the genitalia of both sexes are provided. A diagnostic comparison is made with Stenoloba rufosagitta Kononenko & Ronkay, 2001 and S. rufosagittoides Han & Kononenko, 2009.     

Three species of the family Noctuidae (Lepidoptera) new to China

Three species of the family Noctuidae –Phlogophora striatovirens (Moore, 1867), Usbeca kulmburgi (Rebel, 1918) and Feliniopsis leucostigma (Moore, 1867) – are reported for the first time from China. Photographs of adults and genital characteristics are provided.     

黄地老虎飞行能力研究

黄地老虎Agrotis segetum是一种重要的农业迁飞性害虫,研究飞行生物学对明确其迁飞机理有重要意义。本项研究利用昆虫飞行磨系统对黄地老虎的飞行能力进行了测定。对实验室种群飞行能力的测定结果表明:1日龄成虫的飞行能力最弱;3日龄飞行能力最强,其24 h平均飞行时间、平均飞行距离和平均飞行速率分别达到12.16±0.74 h、48.94±3.40 km和3.76±0.12 km/h。雌蛾与雄蛾间的各项飞行参数均无显著差异,但处女成虫平均飞行距离和平均飞行速率均显著高于已交配个体。对渤海湾野外迁飞种群飞行能力的测定显示,早季节北迁个体和晚季节回迁个体的平均飞行时间和平均飞行距离无显著差异,但皆显著低于实验室种群。黄地老虎具有较强的飞行能力,日龄和交配是影响其飞行能力的关键因素。     

Larval hemocytes in Noctuidae (Insecta: Lepidoptera)

An attempt was made to relate certain physical characteristics of hemocytes and the taxonomy or ecophysiology of species in one family of insects. Composition of the hemocyte complex and features of the cell types varied widely among larvae of 85 species sampled from the family Noctuidae (Lepidoptera). The complex ranged from a basic one of 4 functioning types, the plasmatocytes, granulocytes, spherulocytes and oenocytoids, to ones that also included extreme variants of the plasmatocyte line. Except for the granolocytes, each type had features of size, form and structure that could vary also with species. Some species can be identified by these characters, but there is no apparent relationship of the characters to species biology and little to present taxonomic arrangements.     

中国异斑夜蛾属记述及一新记录种（鳞翅目：夜蛾总科）

记述采自华南地区夜蛾科的异斑夜蛾属Heterospila 1新记录种:异斑夜蛾H.nigripalpis(Walker,1869),提供了该种翅脉以及雄性成虫与外生殖器图片。     

Allozymic and morphometric analysis of populations in the Zygaena purpuralis complex (Lepidoptera, Zygaenidae)

In Central Europe and Asia Minor Zygaena purpuralis and Z. minos are two sibling species exhibiting a considerable geographic variation in several features. In this study we examine some populations from the Central and Southern Apennines (Italy) by comparing multivariate analyses of individual allozymic multilocus profiles and of individual morphometric profiles of male genitalia in order to assess their genetic and phenetic relationships.
Results indicate that populations of Z. purpuralis in the Apennines behave in rather different ways with respect to the occurrence of gene exchange with other gene pools. No gene flow appears to occur between two geographically close southern populations; however, extensive introgression, revealable at both the allozymic and morphometric level, seems to occur between some purpuralis and minos -like sympatric populations from Abruzzi. Evolutionary relationships among these peninsular Italy populations are discussed with reference to historical factors, that is, the occurrence of multiple Pleistocene refugia, which could have determined different degrees of isolation among gene pools. This situation is rather different from that previously outlined for Central Europe and present results suggest that the Z. purpuralis complex might include more than two biological species.     

Genital and body allometry in two species of noctuid moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

One‐size‐fits‐all and related hypotheses predict that static allometry slopes for male genitalia will be consistently lower than 1.0 and lower than the slopes for most other body parts (somatic traits). We examined the allometry of genitalic and somatic morphological traits in males and females of two species of noctuid moths, Spodoptera exigua (Hübner, [1808]) and Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner, [1808]). The relationship between genitalic traits and body size was generally strongly negative‐allometric in males but with no significant differences from 1.00 in females of the two species examined. However, in females, the slope of genital traits was also lower than the slopes for somatic traits. The relationship between somatic traits and the body size indicator was approximately isometric in most cases in males, except in four traits in S. exigua, in which the slopes showed slight negative allometry, and the hind tibia in H. armigera, in which the slope had positive allometry. However, in females, some somatic traits showed isometric and some other showed negative allometry in both species. The coefficients of variation (CV) for all structures in the males were low, not exceeding 10%. Genitalic traits showed significantly lower CV than somatic traits in males. In females, somatic traits showed lower CV than genitalic traits but with no significant difference in the H. armigera. Our observations of strongly negative allometry for genitalic traits in males are consistent with stabilizing selection on genital size and we suggest that male performance in interactions with females is the source of selection on male genital allometry. The difference in the degree of phenotypic variation between genitalic and somatic traits in the two studied species is attributed to the different developmental‐genetic architectures of these traits. Female genitalia showed a similar trend to the males, although the difference between genital and somatic traits was not significant in females. This finding suggests that selection is acting differently on male and female genitalia. Positive allometry of hind tibia in H. armigera may be a result of secondary sexual function.     

实夜蛾属和铃夜蛾属昆虫性信息素通讯系统的研究进展

实夜蛾属Heliothis和铃夜蛾属Helicoverpa昆虫的性信息素通讯系统主要包括雌蛾的性信息素合成和雄蛾对性信息素接收两个方面,每方面都有分子、细胞、系统水平上进行协同作用的生物过程。性信息素生物合成激活肽（PBAN）与其受体作用,启动信号转导系统,从而激活合成性信息素的酶系统来合成性信息素,利用化学和生物测定的方法鉴定出具有诱蛾活性的性信息素腺体组分及行为功能;性信息素分子与性信息素结合蛋白（PBP）的复合体同受体相互作用,启动信号转导系统,诱导产生神经信号,从而引起一系列性行为反应。这些生物过程受到各种内部和外部因素的影响。     

Serological study on the transmission of a granulosis virus of the armyworm,Pseudaletia unipuncta (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), to other lepidopterous species

The synergistic (Hawaiian) strain of a granulosis virus (GV) from the armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta, was transmitted to Spodoptera exigua, Autographa californica, and Trichoplusia ni. The viruses isolated from these hosts were tested by radial double-immunodiffusion (RDD) and immunoelectrophoresis (IE) for their relationship to the original virus. Untreated and heat-treated virus inclusion bodies (capsules) were compared for their antigenic properties but no differences were detected. The antiserum elicited against the whole capsule was more sharply specific for the antigenic determinants than the one elicited against the dissolved capsule proteins. The viruses obtained from S. exigua and T. ni elicited precipitin lines that differed from those of the P. unipuncta GV in their electrophoretic mobility with the one-trough IE method; however, with the two-trough method, the lines fused indicating that the antigens were identical. The major precipitin line indicating identity of the viruses wasthat produced by the synergistic factor (SF) purified from the capsule proteins of the synergistic GV strain. The presence of SF in the GV produced in alternate hosts indicated that its production was virus directed. The SF was not detected in the GVs of Laspeyresia pomonella and Pieris rapae and in the nonsynergistic Oregonian GV of P. unipuncta. A field-collected GV from S. exigua exhibited a different precipitin pattern from that of the synergistic GV, but one of the precipitin lines shared partial relationship to the SF.     

Suitability assessment of three Trichogramma species in the control of Mythimna separata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Mythimna separata (Walker) is a serious cosmopolitan pest. Trichogramma species have been used worldwide as biological control agents of lepidopteran pests. However, no data on the control efficiency of Trichogramma species on this pest have been reported. We evaluated the suitability of M. separata eggs for three Trichogramma species, Trichogramma dendrolimi Matsumura, T. ostriniae Pang et Chen and T. japonicum Ashmead, and compared the suitability with that of Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton) eggs. The parasitism rate, development time, emergence rate, female proportion, body size and egg load of female offspring indicated that the M. separata egg is a suitable host for the three Trichogramma species. On the other hand, the non‐emergence rate and the relationship between egg load and body size reflected that M. separata eggs are less suitable for the three Trichogramma species than C. cephalonica eggs. Egg resorption occurred in T. japonicum 4 days after emergence.     

Unique intertesticular tissue complex in larvae of Heliothis virescens (F.) (Lepidoptera : Noctuidae)

A unique heart-testis complex has been found in the last instar of the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens (F.) (Lepidoptera : Noctuidae). This complex consists of a previously undescribed muscle system, herein designated the cardiotesticular muscle, that attaches the heart to the testes, and a ubiquitous connective tissue sheath that overlays this muscle and surrounding fat body and pericardial cells. These interconnected organs form a sieve-like septum enclosing a sinus that contains clusters of hemocytes and lipid droplets. Lipid droplets appear to be released from the surface of the testes sheath. The cardiotesticular muscle is innervated by neuroendocrine nerves that may be the route by which the brain peptide, testis ecdysiotropin, reaches the testes. The cardiotesticular muscle and products sequestered in the cardiotesticular sinus may be involved in the fusion of the paired testes and maturation of the male reproductive system, because they are present only during this stage of development.     

A comparative study of sex pheromone reception in the Hadeninae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract A comparative study of the olfactory responses to pheromone compounds was performed in twenty-four species of Hadeninae. Electroantennograms (EAG) were recorded on male moths in response to thirty compounds and the response profiles of each species were analysed by factorial correspondence analysis. A limited number of molecules were found active and the most effective stimuli were Z9 tetradecenes and Z11 hexadecenes. The species of the Mythimna genus were most sensitive to aldehydes. Tholera decimalis did not respond to any of the molecules tested. The species belonging to the Mamestra and the Orthosia genera responded to a variety of molecules and no simple correlation was found between the genus and the EAG sensibility. Pheromone reception is discussed in relation to the taxonomy and the evolution of olfactory communication in Hadeninae.