Visual cues of oviposition sites and spectral sensitivity of Cydia strobilella L.

Johan Jakobsson, Miriam J. Henze, Glenn P. Svensson, Olle Lind, Olle Anderbrant

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We investigated whether the spruce seed moth (Cydia strobilella L., Tortricidae: Grapholitini), an important pest in seed orchards of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), can make use of the spectral properties of its host when searching for flowers to oviposit on. Spectral measurements showed that the flowers, and the cones they develop into, differ from a background of P. abies needles by a higher reflectance of long wavelengths. These differences increase as the flowers develop into mature cones. Electroretinograms (ERGs) in combination with spectral adaptation suggest that C. strobilella has at least three spectral types of photoreceptor; an abundant green-sensitive receptor with maximal sensitivity at wavelength λmax = 526 nm, a blue-sensitive receptor with λmax = 436 nm, and an ultraviolet-sensitive receptor with λmax = 352 nm. Based on our spectral measurements and the receptor properties inferred from the ERGs, we calculated that open flowers, which are suitable oviposition sites, provide detectable achromatic, but almost no chromatic contrasts to the background of needles. In field trials using traps of different spectral properties with or without a female sex pheromone lure, only pheromone-baited traps caught moths. Catches in baited traps were not correlated with the visual contrast of the traps against the background. Thus, visual contrast is probably not the primary cue for finding open host flowers, but it could potentially complement olfaction as a secondary cue, since traps with certain spectral properties caught significantly more moths than others.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)161-168
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Insect Physiology
Volume101
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017 Aug 1

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Zoology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Visual cues of oviposition sites and spectral sensitivity of Cydia strobilella L.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this