Courtship and mating behaviour of the African armyworm, Spodoptera exempta (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract

AbstractLaboratory-bred males of Spodoptera exempta (Wlk.) required at least 48 h after emergence before responding to females, whereas wild-caught males matured in 24 to 36 h; laboratory-bred females took 60 h, whereas wild-caught females were sexually attractive to males 48 h after emergence. Mating only occurred between 00.30 and 03.00 h. Females exhibited a courtship behaviour involving ‘calling’, and the males exhibited a series of pre-mating behavioural responses, probably characteristic of physiological levels of excitement by the female's ‘calling’. Experiments showed that a male can mate with and inseminate only one female each night. The number of females inseminated by any male was related to the male's life-span and was very variable. The fertility of eggs laid by a female was not affected by the age of the male she mated with. A single mating was sufficient for the fertilisation of a life-time's production of eggs by a female.