Flight activity of Heliothis virescens (F.) females (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) with reference to host-plant volatiles
Mitchell, E.R.; Tingle, F.C.; Heath, R.R.
Journal of Chemical Ecology 17(2): 259-266
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0098-0331
PMID: 24258724
DOI: 10.1007/bf00994331
Accession: 053261116
Heliothis virescens (F.) females responded positively via upwind flight in laboratory assays to volatiles emitted from methylene chloride washes of fresh whole leaves of host plants including cotton, tobacco, and a weed species, Desmodium tortuosum (Swartz) de Candolle. Except for D. tortuosum, the response increased positively with dose; the steepest slope occurred with an extract of cotton squares (flower buds). Almost all of the moths that landed on the extract dispenser also oviposited. Moths simulated by extracts from cotton squares exhibited a full array of behaviors (upwind flight, contact with the dispenser, examination of the cloth substrate with antennae, and oviposition) expected of gravid individuals seeking sites to propagate the species.