ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2013
Early quality assessment lessens pheromone specificity in a moth.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Temporal variation in sex pheromone release from individual Chilo suppressalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) females and maximization of male trapping.Crop health · 2026Article
- First report of natural parasitism byFrontiers in insect science · 2025Article
- Critical Facets of European Corn Borer Adult Movement Ecology Relevant to Mitigating Field Resistance to Bt-Corn.Insects · 2024Review
- Overlaps in olfactive signalling coupled with geographic variation may result in localised pollinator sharing between closely related Ficus species.BMC ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Experimental evolution of a pheromone signal.Ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Sex pheromone signal and stability covary with fitness.Royal Society open science · 2021Article
- Identification and Synthesis of Putative Pheromone Components of the Threatened Salt Marsh Bagworm Moth, Whittleia retiella (Lepidoptera: Psychidae).Journal of chemical ecology · 2020Article
- Proximate Mechanisms of Host Plant Location by a Specialist Phytophagous Insect, the Grape Berry Moth, Paralobesia Viteana.Journal of chemical ecology · 2019Article
- Development of a Female-Targeted Lure for the Box Tree Moth Cydalima perspectalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae): a Preliminary Report.Journal of chemical ecology · 2019Article
- Carabidae Semiochemistry: Current and Future Directions.Journal of chemical ecology · 2018Review
- Proximity of signallers can maintain sexual signal variation under stabilizing selection.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- Genetic mapping of male pheromone response in the European corn borer identifies candidate genes regulating neurogenesis.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2016Article
- Electrophysiologically-Active Maize Volatiles Attract Gravid Female European Corn Borer, Ostrinia nubilalis.Journal of chemical ecology · 2015Article
- Beyond species recognition: somatic state affects long-distance sex pheromone communication.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2015Article
- Intraspecific combinations of flower and leaf volatiles act together in attracting hawkmoth pollinators.PloS one · 2013Article
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4 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Pheromone orientation in moths is an exemplar of olfactory acuity. To avoid heterospecific mating, males respond to female-produced blends with high specificity and temporal resolution. A finely tuned sensory to projection neuron network secures specificity, and this network is thought to assess pheromone quality continually during orientation. We tested whether male moths do indeed evaluate each pheromone encounter and surprisingly found that male European corn borer moths instead generalize across successive encounters. Although initially highly ratio specific, once "locked on" to the pheromone plume the acceptable ratio can vary widely, and even unattractive blends can become attractive. We further found that this "mental shortcut" may be a consequence of the fact that sensory neurons exposed to frequent encounters do not reliably encode blend ratios. Neurons tuned to either of the two pheromone components adapt differentially in plumes containing the preferred blend ratio (97:3) and cause the olfactory sensory signal to "evolve," even in narrowly tuned pheromonal circuits. However, apparently the brain interprets these shifting signals as invariant "gestalts." Generalization in pheromone perception may mitigate stabilizing selection and allow introgression between sympatric strains, such as in the European corn borer, that otherwise appear isolated by pheromonal differences. Generalization may also be important in responses to general odorants, as circuits underlying these display vast sensitivity differences, complex interactions, and temporal intricacies.
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