Morphological and Biological Evidence for the Presence of a Male Sex Pheromone of the Diamondback Moth

In the present study, besides morphological evidence, two bioassays, antenna-excision and hairpencil-excision, were used to demonstrate the presence of a male sex pheromone of the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella L. Although the antenna-excision bioassay demonstrated that a male aphrodiasic pheromone exists in the diamondback moth, it was proven to be not as important as the female sex pheromone in mating. After the hairpencils of males were excised, the mating success of the females decreased significantly, suggesting that the male hairpencils might play a role in the mating of the female diamondback moth.