Termination of sex pheromone production in mated females of the silkworm moth

Abstract

A mating duration of more than 6 h was necessary to permanently terminate the production of the sex pheromone (bombykol) in the silkworm moth, Bombyx mori L. (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae), although the female formed a bursa copulatrix including a spermatophore and laid fertilized eggs even after mating for only 0.5 h. The 6-h mated female again produced bombykol if given an injection of synthetic pheromonotropic neuropeptide (PBAN), which is known to activate pheromone biosynthesis in a virgin female. Extracts of brain-suboesophageal ganglion (SG) complexes, which were removed from 6- and 24-h mated females, showed strong pheromonotropic activities. These results indicated that the pheromone gland of the mated female maintained its ability to biosynthesize bombykol; however, it could not produce pheromone due to a suppression of PBAN secretion from the SG. Furthermore, bombykol titers did not decrease after mating in females with a transected ventral nerve cord, even after the injection of a spermatophore extract, suggesting that the suppression of PBAN secretion was mediated by a neural signal and not by a substance in the spermatophore. The mated females accumulated (10E, 12Z)-10,12-hexadecadienoic acid, a precursor of bombykol biosynthesis, in their pheromone glands as did decapitated females. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.