Neuronal control of post-coital pheromone production in the mothHeliothis virescens

Abstract

The mechanism involved in bringing about post-coital suppression of pheromone production, pheromonostasis, was studied in the noctuid moth Heliothis virescens. Mating results in a transient suppression in pheromone production, the signal for which appears to originate in the testes and other components of the male's reproductive system. The mating-induced pheromonostasis is due to an ascending signal via the central nervous system that appears to inhibit the release of the pheromonotropin, pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN), or other potential pheromonotropic substances, and is not due to a refractoriness in response of the sex pheromone glands to PBAN in the female. A similar mechanism is operative in several species of moths where post-coital pheromonostasis has been observed. Sperm quality is not important for pheromonostasis in H. virescens, because males with apyrene or eupyrene sperm elicit similar pheromonostatic responses. The pheromonostatic activity of the ecdysteroid 20-OH-ecdysone appears to be the result of a direct effect on the sex pheromone glands. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.