Subtleties in perception and discrimination by cabbage looper moths, Trichoplusia ni, of the two 14-carbon acetate sex pheromone components

• Published in: Journal of chemical ecology Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 455 - 469
• Main Authors: Mayer, M.S, Mitchell, E.R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Springer 01.03.1999; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: acetates; Animal and plant ecology; animal behavior; Animal cognition; Animal ethology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Autoecology; bioassays; Biological and medical sciences; Butterflies & moths; chemical composition; field experimentation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; insect traps; Lepidoptera; Noctuidae; Perceptions; Pheromones; Protozoa. Invertebrata; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; responses; sex pheromones; Trichoplusia ni; Wind tunnels; Sex pheromone; Trichoplusia ni; Insecta; Flight; Sexual behavior; Spatial orientation; Acetate; Pest; Arthropoda; Lepidoptera; Sensorial perception; Attractive trap; Noctuidae; Invertebrata; Constituent; Semiochemicals
• ISSN: 0098-0331; 1573-1561
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1020941501388

Three compounds that are emitted by virgin female cabbage looper moths, Trichoplusia ni, (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate (Z7-12:Ac), (Z)-7-tetradecenyl acetate (Z7-14:Ac), and (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate (Z9-14:Ac), are detected by antennal olfactory receptor neurons specialized to detect sex pheromone components. The principal evidence signifying that either or both of Z7-14:Ac and Z9-14:Ac have an effect on male behavior comes from an observed reduction in the numbers of males trapped by Z7-12: Ac paired with a six-component mixture. The evidence conforms to a hypothesis that either or both of these compounds are the basis for discrimination between the two mixtures. However, scant evidence for this hypothesis was obtained in paired-source laboratory wind-tunnel assays, even at airborne concentrations of Z7-14:Ac and Z9-14:Ac that ranged up to 1000x that emitted by a female. Furthermore, there was little evidence from single-source laboratory or field trap assays confirming that Z7-14:Ac and Z9-14:Ac at or above natural stimulus strengths modify the moth's perception of Z7-12:Ac. The data suggest that discrimination of small mixture differences may not be resolvable within the confines of a wind tunnel.