Professor Acadia University Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada
Throughout North America, the true armyworm moth, Mythimna unipuncta (Haworth) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is infamous for its sporadic mass outbreaks during which the enormous numbers of its herbivorous larvae cause considerable economic damage to cereal and forage crops. Little is known on how the migratory moths synchronize oviposition timing and about mechanisms which cause females to oviposit their egg clusters in close vicinity to each other, initiating large outbreak populations. In this study, we want to learn more about semiochemicals controlling armyworm behaviour, especially of the female moths. In Electroantennograms (EAGs) we tested a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of various chemical classes found in the environment of the armyworm at different concentrations for their antennal response profile. Furthermore, we recorded the antennal response of adult moths to host plant headspace collections or plant extracts using Gas Chromatography–Electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD). In bioassays, we characterized the behavioural relevance of semiochemicals that elicited electrophysiological responses in EAGs or GC-EADs. For this we conducted wind tunnel (attraction) experiments, semi-field free flight (attraction, oviposition) trials, proboscis extension reflex (feeding stimuli) as well as oviposition assays
