ELECTROANTENNOGRAMS FROM SPRUCE BUDWORM MOTHS (CHORISTONEURA-FUMIFERANA) (LEPIDOPTERA, TORTRICIDAE) OF DIFFERENT AGES AND FOR VARIOUS PHEROMONE CONCENTRATIONS

An electroantennogram (EAG) technique, which indicates electrochemical activity in a whole antenna, was used to study sex pheromone reception in spruce budworm moth antennae. For both males and females the EAG exhibited a phasic depolarization, reaching maximum near the end of a puff stimulation, followed immediately by repolarization which was prolonged by increasing amounts as the source concentration of the pheromone was increased. The dose-response curves for both sexes were sigmoid in shape, but they indicated that female antennae have a higher threshold and a lower peak response than that of males. Antennal response changed with age, being a regular increase and decrease for females and irregular for males. © 1979, Entomological Society of Canada. All rights reserved.