We examined the nutritional correlates of diet breadth in insect herbivores by comparing patterns of diet selection, nutrient balancing, post-ingestive utilization and development in two sister species of caterpillar and a hybrid between them. One species, Heliothis virescens (HV) has a broad host range, feeding on plants in at least 14 families. The other, Heliothis subflexa (HS), is a special...

Variability within sex pheromone signalling systems is generally believed to be low because of strong stabilizing selection; yet the noctuid moth Heliothis subflexa (Hs) shows significant intraspecific variation. One possible explanation is that females may alter their sex pheromone blend depending on prevailing olfactory cues in the habitat, which we termed the 'experience hypothesis'. This co...

Infections can have detrimental effects on the fitness of an animal. Reproducing females may therefore be sensitive to cues of infection and be able to adaptively change their oviposition strategy in the face of infection. As one possibility, females could make a terminal investment and shift reproductive effort from future to current reproduction as life expectancy decreases. We hypothesized t...

the population response of heliothis armigera larvae to nuclear polyhedrosis virus (npv) was investigated. the virus was introduced by permitting the larvae to feed on lettuce leaves. median lethal doses (ld50) were determined. the estimated ld50 values for the first, second, third, early, and late fourth larval instars were 5, 141, 1226, 5168 and 24553 polyhedra per larva respectively. in ...

ordinary antennal lobe glomeruli in the central olfactory pathway of the moth Heliothis virescens