Detection of major and minor sex pheromone components by the male codling moth Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

Electroantennograms (EAGs) recorded from the antennae of male Cydia pomonella L. in response to stimulation with doses of the main sex pheromone component E8,E10-dodecadienol (Codlemone) ranging from 5 ng to 500 mu g did not differ in their amplitudes from responses obtained to a synthetic 7-component pheromone blend containing the same absolute quantities of Codlemone. Based on differences in spike amplitudes obtained in Single Cell recordings (SCR), Sensilla trichodea on the antenna of males were found to contain at least three receptor neurone types. Two olfactory receptor neurones were tuned to Codlemone, while the third failed to be stimulated by Codlemone or by the minor components of the pheromone blend. As spike activity of the neurones in the S. trichodea stimulated by the 7-component blend did not differ from that of stimulation by Codlemone alone it appears that none of the receptor neurones is sensitive to any of the minor components tested. Scanning-electron-microscopical (SEM) examination of Sensilla auricillica on the antennae of Cydia males revealed two morphologically distinct types: rabbit eared shoehorn and regular shoehorn. SCR from these sensilla showed that only olfactory receptor neurones located in the rabbit-eared shoehorn type were tuned to the minor components. Differences in spike amplitudes (large, intermediate, small) allowed three types of neurones to be distinguished. Only the spike frequency of the intermediate receptor neurone was increased by application of the minor components E8-dodecenol, E9-dodecenol, dodecanol, tetradecanol, hexadecanol and E8,E10-dodecadienal. None were stimulated by Codlemone. These results are discussed in relation to the behavioural role of the minor pheromone components of C. pomonella. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.