Increased allocation of adult-acquired carbohydrate to egg production results in its decreased allocation to sex pheromone production in mated females of the moth Heliothis virescens.

نویسندگان

  • Stephen P Foster
  • Karin G Anderson
  • J P Harmon
چکیده

Females of most species of moths produce a volatile sex pheromone that attracts conspecific males over distance. In females of the polyandrous moth Heliothis virescens, feeding on carbohydrate (e.g. nectar) supplies precursor, via hemolymph trehalose, for both sex pheromone and egg production. With limited carbohydrate acquisition these two reproductive physiologies might compete for hemolymph trehalose, resulting in an allocation deficit to either sex pheromone or egg production. Using virgin and mated females, which have low and high egg maturation rates, respectively, we fed females a limited diet of (13)C-labeled glucose daily and, using mass isotopomer distribution analysis, determined allocations of adult-acquired carbohydrate (AAC) to newly synthesized pheromone and ovarian and egg fats, our proxies for allocation to egg production. With increased number of feeds, AAC enrichment of hemolymph trehalose increased, as expected. This led to mated females increasing their proportional allocation of AAC to ovarian and egg fats, but decreasing their proportional allocation of AAC to pheromone production. By contrast, virgins increased their proportional allocation of AAC to pheromone production with increased feeds, consistent with increasing AAC enrichment of hemolymph trehalose. These results show that with limited AAC intake, enhanced egg maturation in mated females results in reduced AAC allocation to pheromone production; this does not occur in virgins because of their lower egg maturation rate. This physiological competition for AAC corresponded with decreased pheromone production in mated moths to levels unlikely to attract mates. Therefore, the availability and/or allocation of AAC may be a proximate mechanism underlying the incidence of polyandry in this and other species of moths.

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منابع مشابه

Increased allocation of adult - acquired carbohydrate to 20 egg production results in its decreased allocation to sex pheromone 21 production in mated females of the moth

© 2013. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd 1 Address correspondence to: Dr. Stephen Foster 1 North Dakota State University 2 Entomology Department 3 NDSU Dept 7650 4 PO Box 6050 5 Fargo, ND 58108-6050 6 U.S.A 7 Ph. 1-701-231-6444 8 Fax 1-701-231-8557 9 Email: stephen.foster@ndsu.edu 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Increased allocation of adult-acquired carbohydrate to 20 egg production re...

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عنوان ژورنال:
  • The Journal of experimental biology

دوره 217 Pt 4  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2014