Journal of Applied Entomology - Zeitschrift für angewandte Entomologie (1998) 122, 353-360

Qing-He Zhang and M.R. Paiva (1998)
Female calling behaviour and male response to the sex pheromone in Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Den. and Schiff.) (Lep., Thaumetopoeidae)
Journal of Applied Entomology - Zeitschrift für angewandte Entomologie 122 (7), 353-360
Abstract: Female calling behaviour and male response to natural and synthetic pheromone sources were used^- for a Portuguese population of the winter pine processionary moth Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Den. and Schiff.). Virgin females 1-5 days old were studied, the mean calling longevity being 3.3 ± 0.7 days. Calling started ~3 h after the onset of scotophase, and 7 h after emergence, lasting, nightly, for 6.4 ± 0.7 h, and was not affected by female age. A drop in air temperatures during the first half of scotophase and an increase in light intensity at dawn apparently determined the onset and termination of calling. Male flight activity began, on average, 3 h before the females started emitting pheromone, and was similarly affected by air temperatures and light intensity. The attractivity of traps baited with synthetic pheromone (TP056A; Yne 11, Z13-16AC) was compared with that of virgin females. Male flight activity was monitored in central and southern Portugal, using pheromone traps, and seen to last between 6 and 10 weeks, with a major peak occurring, in all sites, at the beginning of September.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Qing He Zhang, Maria Rosa Paiva

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
pheromones/attractants/traps
population dynamics/ epidemiology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Thaumetopoea pityocampa	Pine (Pinus)	Portugal (continental)