Silvegren Germund, Löfstedt Christer, Qi Rosén Wen
Chemical Ecology and Ecotoxicology, Department of Ecology, Lund University, Ecology Building, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden.
J Insect Physiol. 2005 Mar;51(3):277-86. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2004.11.013.
Mating in moths is generally mediated by female-produced sex pheromones. Mating activity, female pheromone production/release and male pheromone responsiveness all show diurnal variations in many species. We found that the response of the male Egyptian cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis, to sex pheromone gland extracts showed a diel rhythm in olfactometer tests, and the variation was persistent for at least 1 day in constant darkness. High male response to sex pheromone was correlated in time with high mating and locomotor activity. Male S. littoralis, maintained in constant darkness and exposed to pheromone gland extracts on a daily basis, showed an induced temporal variation in response after several days, in contrast to unexposed males. This suggests that in the absence of other external zeitgebers, exposure to sex pheromone may function to synchronise circadian behavioural rhythms in male moths. The daily rhythm in mating activity in S. littoralis is also shown to be persistent for at least 2 days in constant darkness. Pairs mated significantly less when either the male or female had been raised in a light:dark cycle 10 h out of phase, indicating that the proposed circadian rhythm in mating activity is composed of rhythmic mating preference/ability in both sexes.
蛾类的交配通常由雌性产生的性信息素介导。在许多物种中，交配活动、雌性信息素的产生/释放以及雄性对信息素的反应都表现出昼夜变化。我们发现，在嗅觉计测试中，雄性埃及棉铃虫（Spodoptera littoralis）对性信息素腺体提取物的反应呈现出昼夜节律，并且在持续黑暗中这种变化至少持续1天。雄性对性信息素的高反应与高交配和运动活动在时间上相关。与未接触信息素腺体提取物的雄性相比，每天持续处于黑暗环境并接触信息素腺体提取物的雄性埃及棉铃虫在几天后表现出诱导的反应时间变化。这表明，在没有其他外部时间线索的情况下，接触性信息素可能起到使雄性蛾类昼夜行为节律同步的作用。埃及棉铃虫的交配活动昼夜节律在持续黑暗中也至少持续2天。当雄性或雌性在相差10小时的光暗周期中饲养时，交配的配对显著减少，这表明所提出的交配活动昼夜节律是由两性有节律的交配偏好/能力组成的。
