Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8kt4b Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-20T19:16:01.689Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Changes in colour of a secretion in the reproductive tract of adult males of Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) with age and mated status

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Linda C. Haines
Linda C. Haines
Affiliation:
Centre For Overseas Pest Research, College House, Wrights Lane, London W8 5SJ, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The internal reproductive system of adult males of Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.) is described, and changes in colour of a secretion in the ductus ejaculatorius simplex with age and mated status are noted. Virgin males 0–7 days old and mated males 0–7 days after mating were killed and the colour of the secretion in the simplex compared with colour chips in the Munsell book of color (1929–1942). The results showed that the simplex of newly emerged males was colourless or pale yellow, but after two days an orange pigmented secretion had begun to accumulate in 61·3% of males examined. By four days this pigment had darkened to deep red in 96·4% of virgin males. On mating, a portion of this secretion was incorporated into the spermatophore while the rest was passed into the bursa copulatrix of the female, leaving the simplex of newly mated males colourless. There was. however, a gradual re-accumulation of the pigmented secretion after mating through yellow, orange and finally to deep red. This accumulation of the red pigment was slightly slower in the mated males than in virgins, and three days after mating only 29·6% of the males had a red simplex compared with 78·8% of three-day-old virgin males. The potential use of these changes in colour to determine the mated status of field-caught males is discussed.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 71 , Issue 4 , December 1981 , pp. 591 - 598
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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. (1929–1942). Munsell book of color. Pocket Edition, Baltimore, Munsell Color Company, Inc.Google Scholar
Callahan, P. S. (1958). Serial morphology as a technique for determination of reproductive patterns in the corn earworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie).—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 51, 413–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callahan, P. S. & Cascio, T. (1963). Histology of the reproductive tracts and transmission of sperm in the corn earworm, Heliothis zea.—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 56, 535–556.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callahan, P. S. & Chapin, J. B. (1960). Morphology of the reproductive systems and mating in two representative members of the family Noctuidae, Pseudaletia unipuncta and Peridroma margaritosa, with comparison to Heliothis zea.—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 53, 763–782.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Etman, A. A. M. & Hooper, G. H. S. (1979). Developmental and reproductive biology of Spodoptera litura (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).—J. Aust. entomol. Soc. 18, 363–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ho, C. L. (1963). On the anatomy of the reproductive system of the armyworm, Pseudaletia separata (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) [in Chinese].—Acta ent. sin. 12, 282–291.Google Scholar
Mu, C. Y. & Sun, S. S. (1980). A study on the copulation and spermatophore formation in Leucania separata (Walker) [in Chinese].—Acta ent. sin. 23, 16–24.Google Scholar
Outram, I. & Campion, D. G. (1967). Morphology of the male reproductive system and spermatophore of the red bollworm, Diparopsis castanea (Hmps.) and possible effect of the chemosterilant tepa on the gross structure.—Ann. Appl. Biol. 60, 439–444.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Snow, J. W. & Carlysle, T. C. (1967). A characteristic indicating the mating status of male fall armyworm moths.—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 60, 1071–1074.CrossRefGoogle Scholar