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- Title
Influence of prolonged dietary experience during the larval stage on novel odour preferences in adults of noctuid stem borer moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).
- Authors
PETIT, CHRISTOPHE; AHUYA, PETER; LE RU, BRUNO; KAISER-ARNAULD, LAURE; HARRY, MYRIAM; CALATAYUD, PAUL-ANDRÉ
- Abstract
In Lepidoptera, larval dietary experience of volatile cues can induce adult preference for these cues. However, such induction may require several generations, depending in part on the degree of specialization of the insects. In a previous study, using species of noctuid stem borers with different diet breadths, namely the polyphagous Sesamia nonagrioides, the oligophagous Busseola fusca and monophagous Busseola nairobica, it was shown that in S. nonagrioides, one generation was enough to induce a preference for vanillin in the resulting gravid females, whereas even two generations failed to induce a response in adults of Busseola spp. In this study, we checked whether a higher number of generations of exposure to a vanillin-enriched medium could induce a significant olfactory preference for this medium in the species B. fusca and B. nairobica, which have narrower host-plant utilization ranges than S. nonagrioides. Larvae were reared to the adult stage on an artificial diet enriched with vanillin for periods of from 2 to 7 or 8 generations, followed by two-choice tests on gravid females using a Y-tube olfactometer. The results showed different responses according to the species: for the oligophagous B. fusca, there was no significant effect of the conditioning, while a significant preference for the odours emitted by this new vanillin-enriched diet was recorded for the polyphagous S. nonagrioides and monophagous B. nairobica, but after different numbers of generations. In conclusion, different diet breadths seem to be associated with different levels of plasticity in the odour preference of adults. The implication of this result for insects' adaptability in a changing landscape is discussed.
- Subjects
LEPIDOPTERA; CATERPILLARS; STEM borers; BORERS (Insects); SESAMIA nonagrioides; HOST plants; VANILLIN; INSECT larvae
- Publication
European Journal of Entomology, 2018, Vol 115, p112
- ISSN
1210-5759
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.14411/eje.2018.009