Directional flow of male scent released byPseudaletia separata walker (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and its repellent effect on adults and larvae of four noctuid and one phycitine moth

Abstract

Air movement around a malePseudaletia separata Walker, observed using the smoke of an incense stick during wing-fanning, showed that the air moves away from the female and backwards. Moths moved or flew away immediately when vaporized benzaldehyde was blown over their antennae in a screen cage set in a greenhouse. This repellency lacked species, sex, or individual specificity. Male scent acts as an inhibitor to conspecific males and, at the same time, to other moths if they approach the male in courtship. Inhibition of ovipositional and larval locomotory behavior by benzaldehyde was also demonstrated.