The use of the sex pheromone as an evolutionarysolution to food source selection in caterpillars

摘要

Sex pheromones are released by adults of a species to elicit a sexual interaction with theother sex of the same species. Here we report an unexpected effect of a moth sex pheromoneon the caterpillars of the same species. We demonstrate that larvae of the cotton leafwormSpodoptera littoralis are attracted by the moth sex pheromone and that this phenomenon isindependent of sex determination. In addition, we show that the olfactory sensilla carried bythe caterpillar antennae are sensitive to the pheromone and that the caterpillar sensilla expresspheromone-binding proteins that are used by adult antennae to bind pheromone components.Finally, we demonstrate that the larvae are preferentially attracted to a food source when itcontains the sex pheromone main component. A possible interpretation of these results is thatthe sex pheromone is used to promote food search in caterpillars, opening potential new routesfor insect pest management.