The circadian rhythm of the sex-pheromone-mediated behavioral response in the turnip moth, Agrotis segetum, is not controlled at the peripheral level

Abstract

The pheromone-mediated upwind flight of male turnip moths was observed in a flight tunnel at different times of day under conditions of a light-dark (LD) cycle, constant darkness (DD), and a shifted photoperiod. Under both LD and DD conditions, a significantly larger number of males flew to the pheromone during both the scotophase and the subjective scotophase than during the photophase and the subjective photophase for 2 consecutive days. When 1-day-old moths were transferred to a shifted LD cycle with lights turned off 4 h earlier, male behavioral responses to the pheromone advanced in time accordingly by 4 h. This showed that male behavioral responses to the pheromone are under the control of an endogenous oscillator. To further examine the level at which the circadian rhythm of the male behavioral response is regulated, the authors tested the olfactory responses of male antennal receptors to pheromone stimuli by means of electroantennograms (EAG) at different times of day. No significant variation in the sensitivity of the male antennal response to the pheromone was observed in terms of time of day. The results suggest that circadian regulation of the rhythmic behavioral response to pheromones in the male Agrotis occurs at the central nervous system level.