Courtship behaviour of the African maize stem borer:: Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) under laboratory conditions

Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is the most important African stem borer damaging maize and sorghum. Chemical mediators play an essential role in all life cycle of this moth, especially for mating recognition and host plant choice. The female sex pheromone, courtship and mating behaviours act on the reproductive isolation within insect populations. B. fusca courtship behaviour was studied to decipher each step that could account as a process for reproductive isolation. B. fusca males and females presented a very simple and fast courtship behaviour, without any particular events or male pheromone emission.