Direct Measurement of the Flight Behavior of Male Moths to Calling Females and Synthetic Sex Pheromones

Abstract

Abstract The approach of male Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in the wind tunnel to a source of sex pheromone was studied using two video cameras connected to image processing equipment. Three-dimensional records demonstrate that the flight to calling females is quite direct compared to the zigzag flight reported for other species. Convoluted paths displaying bimodal distribution of track and course angles were only obtained with a synthetic pheromone blend consisting of E-7,Z-9-dodecadienyl acetate, E-7,Z-9-dodecadien-l-ol and Z-9- dodecenyl acetate at the proportions of 1 /0.2/0.05. This suggests that this blend is still suboptimal and that zigzag flight may be due to a lack of precision in upwind motion caused by inadequate composition of the stimulus