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Sexual communication in diurnal moths: behaviors and mechanisms

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Abstract

Butterflies and moths have substantially different daily activities; butterflies are diurnal, while moths are largely nocturnal or crepuscular. Diurnal moths are subject to different evolutionary pressures that affect several aspects of their behavior and physiology, particularly sexual communication. In this review, species of diurnal moths and the behaviors and mechanisms of their sexual communication are summarized. Diurnal moths are day–flying insects whose partner–finding strategies include visual, olfactory and auditory signals. Males of diurnal Lepidoptera find mating partners using olfactory cues (e.g., sex pheromones) over relatively long distances, or visual (e.g., compound eyes) and/or auditory cues (e.g., ears) over short distances, or even act in combination with the three types of signals. Pheromone–binding proteins and histamine and visual genes play important roles during the signal conduction of sexual communication in diurnal moths. However, the regulatory mechanisms of acoustic communication in day–flying moths are unclear. Understanding this information may help us to explore the evolution of sexual communication in Lepidoptera and to improve biotechnological control strategies against harmful day–flying moths.

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Acknowledgements

We thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which have significantly improved the article. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31660206) and the Guangxi Scholarship Fund of Guangxi Education Department.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Agric-Environment and Agric-Products Safety, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Science Education, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning, China

    Lian Chen, Xiao-Yun Wang, Wen Lu & Xia-Lin Zheng

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  1. Lian Chen
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  2. Xiao-Yun Wang
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  3. Wen Lu
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  4. Xia-Lin Zheng
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Correspondence to Xia-Lin Zheng.

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Chen, L., Wang, XY., Lu, W. et al. Sexual communication in diurnal moths: behaviors and mechanisms. Int J Trop Insect Sci 41, 15–24 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-020-00174-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-020-00174-z

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