Selection for increased pheromone response in the male pink bollworm,Pectinophora gossypiella (lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

The genetic basis of the duration and incidence of male wing fanning to pheromone in the pink bollworm moth,Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders), was examined by artificial selection. Using a still-air bioassay, males from a laboratory colony were selected for increased duration of wing fanning when exposed to a 6535 blend of (Z,E)- and (Z,Z)-7,11-hexadecadienyl acetates. The mean (±SE) duration of wing fanning in the selected line increased from 5.4±1.4 to 17.4±2.7 s after six generations. The increase in wing fanning duration was the result of an increase in response duration among responders and not the percentage of males that responded. Realized heritability of wing-fanning duration was 0.16±0.02. The amount and ratio of pheromone produced by females in the male-selected line did not change.This research was supported in part by NSF Grant PCM-8309398 and a University of Massachusetts Biomedical Research Grant.