Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T05:08:20.664Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The effect of adult feeding on female pre-calling period and ovarian development in a migratory moth, the Oriental armyworm Mythimna separata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Er-ning Han
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, UK
A. Gavin Gatehouse*
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, UK
*
A.G. Gatehouse, School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales - Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK.

Abstract

Female oriental armyworm moths, Mythimna separata (Walker), emerged without discernible oocytes in the ovarioles, and reproductive maturity, on the criterion of onset of calling behaviour, was associated with an intermediate stage of oocyte development. Ingestion of carbohydrate was required for completion of oocyte development in the majority of females although a proportion matured when allowed only water. Among females kept alone, these were exclusively moths from a strain selected for early onset of calling but, in the presence of a male, a few females from an unselected line also called and achieved oocyte maturation, without access to carbohydrate. Thus factors other than ovarian development apparently influence the commencement of calling. The absence of an effect of carbohydrate uptake on pre-calling period supports a previous conclusion that this trait is determined primarily by genetic components in this species. It is concluded that ingestion of carbohydrate is important for the attainment of reproductive maturity in M. separata but that it has a differential effect in early and later-calling genotypes. The implications of the results for the reproductive and migratory strategies of M. separata, an important agricultural pest, are discussed.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anon. (1976) Studies on the bionomics and control of armyworms. Acta Entomologia Sinica 19, 185193.Google Scholar
Bell, W. & Bohm, M. (1975) Oosorption in insects. Biological Reviews 50, 373396.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boggs, C.L. (1987) Ecology of nectar and pollen feeding in Lepidoptera. pp. 369392In Slansky, F. Jr & Rodriguez, J.G. (Eds) Nutritional ecology of insects, mites, spiders, and related invertebrates. New York, John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Chin, C.T., Wei, D.Y. & Wang, T.S. (1964) Studies on the nutrition of the armyworm (Pseudaletia (Leucania) separata Wlk.). The feeding and utilization of sugars by adult moths. Acta Entomologia Sinica 13, 773784.Google Scholar
Cusson, M. & McNeil, J.N. (1989a) Ovarian development in female armyworm moths, Pseudaletia unipuncta: its relationship with pheromone release activities. Canadian Journal of Zoology 67, 13801385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cusson, M. & McNeil, J.N. (1989b) Involvement of juvenile hormone in the regulation of pheromone release activities in a moth. Science 243, 210212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engelmann, F. (1970) The physiology of insect reproduction. 307 pp. Oxford, Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Gatehouse, A.G. (1989) Genes, environment and insect flight. pp. 115138In Goldsworthy, G.J. & Wheeler, C.H. (Eds) Insect flight. Boca Raton, Fla., CRC Press.Google Scholar
Gunn, A. & Gatehouse, A.G. (1985) Effects of the availability of food and water on reproduction in the African armyworm, Spodoptera exempta. Physiological Entomology 10, 5363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gunn, A. & Gatehouse, A.G. (1987) The influence of larval phase on metabolic reserves, fecundity and lifespan of the African armyworm moth, Spodoptera exempta (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research 77, 651660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gunn, A., Gatehouse, A.G. & Woodrow, K.P. (1989) Trade-off between flight and reproduction in the African armyworm moth, Spodoptera exempta. Physiological Entomology 14, 419427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Han, E.N. (1988) Laboratory studies on the regulation of migration in the oriental armyworm, Mythimna separata (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). 199 pp. PhD thesis, University of Wales.Google Scholar
Han, E.N. & Gatehouse, A.G. (in press a) Genetics of precalling period in the oriental armyworm, Mythimna separata (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and implications for migration. Evolution.Google Scholar
Han, E.N. & Gatehouse, A.G. (in press b) Effect of temperature and photoperiod on the calling behaviour of a migratory insect, the oriental armyworm, Mythimna separata. Physiological Entomology.Google Scholar
Holmes, E.A. & Keely, L.L. (1975) Mitochondrial development in the flight muscles of the moth (Heliothis virescens. Insect Biochemistry 5, 1524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobsen, L.A. (1965) Mating and oviposition of the pale western cutworm Agrotis orthogonia Morrison (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in the laboratory. Canadian Entomologist 97, 9941000.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kanda, K. & Naito, A. (1979) Behaviour of the oriental army-worm moth, Leucania separata Walker from emergence to oviposition. Japanese Journal of Applied Entomology and Zoology 23, 6977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lukefahr, M.J. & Martin, D.F. (1964) The effects of various larval and adult diets on the fecundity and longevity of the bollworm, tobacco budworm and cotton leafworm. Journal of Economic Entomology 57, 233235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miyahara, Y. (1978) Effect of the intake of sugar at the adult stage on the mating of Leucania separata and Agrotis ipsilon. Proceedings of the Association for Plant Protection, Kyushu 24, 101104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, D.D., Launer, A.E. & Ehrlich, P.R. (1983) The role of adult feeding in egg production and population dynamics of the checkerspot butterfly Euphydryas editha. Oecologia 56, 257263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Norris, M.J. (1934) Contributions towards the study of insect fertility. III. Adult nutrition, fecundity and longevity in the genus Ephestia (Lepidoptera, Phycitidae). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1934, 333360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Page, W.W. (1988) Varying durations of arrested oocyte development in relation to migration in the African armyworm moth, Spodoptera exempta (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research 79, 181198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parsons, F.S. & Marshall, J. (1939) Investigations of the American bollworm. Progress Reports of the Experimental Stations of the Empire Cotton Crops Corporation, South African Cotton Experimental Station, Barberton, Season 1937–1938 pp. 2835.Google Scholar
Quo, F. & Liu, C.L. (1964) Studies on the reproduction of the armyworm, Leucania (Pseudaletia) separata Walker (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). II Effect of supplementary nutrition on fecundity. Acta Entomologia Sinica 13, 785794.Google Scholar
Quo, F., Wu, T.N., Tsai, H.L. & Liu, C.L. (1963) Studies on the reproduction of the armyworm, Leucania separata Walker (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). I. The biological characteristics of adults. Acta Entomologia Sinica 12, 565577.Google Scholar
Roubaud, E. (1929) Cycle autogène d'attente et generations hivernales suractives inapparentes chez le moustique commun, Culex pipiens L. Comptes Rendues de l'Academie des Sciences de Paris 188, 735738.Google Scholar
Sasaki, M. & Riddiford, L.M. (1984) Regulation of reproductive behaviour and egg maturation in the tobacco hawk moth, Manduca sexta. Physiological Entomology 9, 314327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, H.C. & Davies, J.C. (1983) The oriental armyworm, Mythimna separata (Wlk.), distribution, biology and control: a literature review. Tropical Development and Research Institute, Miscellaneous Report No. 59. 23 pp.Google Scholar
Slansky, F. Jr & Scriber, J.M. (1985) Food consumption and utilisation. Vol. 4 pp. 87163In Kerkut, G.A. & Gilbert, L.I. (Eds) Comprehensive insect physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology. Oxford, Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Willers, J.L., Schneider, J.C. & Ramaswamy, M.B. (1987) Fecundity, longevity and caloric patterns in female Heliothis virescens: changes with age due to flight and supplemental carbohydrate. Journal of Insect Physiology 33, 803808.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zar, J.H. (1984) Biostatistical analysis. 718 pp. New Jersey, Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar