Path of Science: International Electronic Scientific Journal

The article considers different approaches to insect pheromone communication as a form of social behaviour: zoological, physiological, genetic and zoopsychological. It is indicated that social behaviour extends to the mating process for insects, which is analysed in this paper from the point of view of various scientific approaches. Finding a sexual partner is considered physiologically as pheromone communication, genetically – features of sex chromosomes, zoologically – on the one hand directly, it’s the process of courtship, and on the other one, it’s the influence of environmental factors. The dependence of the mating process on internal physiological stimuli and environmental factors such as lighting (lunar or solar), non-standard photoperiod, the presence of a substrate of a specific colour, temperature, wind speed, the presence of food objects, the spatial placement of sexual partners above the surface of the earth is considered on particular examples. The features of things on which insects are found, the visual image associated with pheromones, from nutrition, sexual maturity of individuals, and the complex action of factors. The dependence of the mating process on internal physiological stimuli, genetic characteristics, and environmental factors explains the non-randomness of this process and social dimension. The application of various ethological approaches allows for analysing often accompanying information obtained during chemical and biological research. At the same time, clarifying the integrity of the process of social behaviour is possible thanks to the ethological approach, which allows synthesising the obtained data into a single whole.

social behavior of insects; search for a sexual partner; mating; pheromone communication; ethological approach

1. Ihnatenko, I. (2009). Etolohiia [Ethology]. Cherkasy: n. d. (in Ukrainian).

2. Sliusar, M., Kovalchuk, V., Sliusarenko, Yu. (2017). Istoriia stanovlennia etolohii yak nauky pro povedinku tvaryn [The history of the formation of ethology as a science of animal behavior]. Rozvedennia i henetyka tvaryn, 53, 190–196 (in Ukrainian).

3. Tinbergen, N. (1953). (Ed.). Socialnoe povedenie zhivotnyh [Social Behavior in Animals]. Moscow: Mir (in Russian).

4. Jacobson, M. (1965). Insect sex attractants. New Jork: Interscience publishers.

5. Pishak, V. (2013). Feromony: vid morfolohichnoi prezentatsii do molekuliarnoi identyfikatsii [Pheromones: from morphological presentation to molecular identification]. Klinichna ta eksperymentalna patolohiia, 12(4), 158–160 (in Ukrainian).

6. Borzykh, O., Tkalenko, H., Kyrychuk, I., & Chelombitko, A. (2020). Metodyky provedennia feromonnoho monitorynhu shkidnykiv plodovoho sadu z riadiv Lepidoptera ta Hemiptera [Methods of pheromone monitoring of orchard pests from the orders of Lepidoptera and Hemiptera]. Zakhyst i karantyn roslyn, 66, 3–16 (in Ukrainian).

7. Poznanin, L. (1973). (Ed.). Entomologiya [Entomology]. Moscow: Mir (in Russian).

8. Shorey, H. H., & Gaston, L. K. (1964). Sex Pheromones of Noctuid Moths. III. Inhibition of Male Responses to the Sex Pheromone in Trichoplusia ni (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)12. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 57(6), 775–779. doi: 10.1093/aesa/57.6.775

9. Daterman, G. E. (1972). Laboratory Bioassay for Sex Pheromone of the European Pine Shoot Moth, Rhyacionia buoliana1,2. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 65(1), 119–123. doi: 10.1093/aesa/65.1.119

10. Liu, Yun-Cuo, Xu, Shao-Pu, Pu, Jia-Wei. (2003). Influence of the Illumination Factor on the Production of Sex Pheromone and on Calling Behavior. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 23(1), 112–116.

11. Clare, G., Suckling, D. M., Bradley, S. J., Walker, J. T. S., Shaw, P. W., Daly, J. M., McLaren, G. F., & Wearing, C. H. (2000). Pheromone trap colour determines catch of nontarget insects. New Zealand Plant Protection, 53, 216–220. doi: 10.30843/nzpp.2000.53.3638

12. Parys, K. A., Elkins, B. H., Little, N. S., Allen, K. C., Crow, W., Cook, D., Wright, K. W., Zhu, Y. C., & Griswold, T. (2021). Landscape Effects on Native Bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) Captured in Pheromone Traps for Noctuid Crop Pests (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Environmental Entomology, 50(4), 860–867. doi: 10.1093/ee/nvab040

13. Saringer, Gy., Wegh, Gy., & Rada, K. (1968). Sexual attractiveness of virgin plum fruit moth, Grapholitha funebrana Tr. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) females examined by 32P labeled males. Acta phytopathologica, 3(3), 373–385.

14. Shorey, H. H. (1970). Sex Pheromones of Lepidoptera. Control of Insect Behavior by Natural Products, 249–284. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-762650-5.50018-2

15. Symonov, V., Romanchenko, V., Chelombitko, A., Yaremenko, V., Melnychenko, L., Mokrii, S., & Korchma, O. (2012). Feromonnyi monitorynh lisovykh nasadzhen Chernihivskoi oblasti [Pheromone monitoring of forest plantations of Chernihiv region]. Karantyn i zakhyst roslyn, 12, 22–24 (in Ukrainian).

16. Mysko, O., & Zalizniak, O. (2013). Feromonnyi monitorynh kukurudzianoho steblovoho metelyka v ahroekolohichnykh umovakh Zakarpattia [Pheromone monitoring of the corn stalk butterfly in the agro-ecological conditions of Transcarpathia]. Peredhirne ta hirske zemlerobstvo i tvarynnytstvo, 55(1), 79–86 (in Ukrainian).

17. Stockel, J. (1971). Utilisation du piegeage sexual pour l`etude du deplacement i`Alucite Sitotroga cerealella de (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) vers les cultures de Mais. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 14(1), 39–56. doi: 10.1111/j.1570-7458.1971.tb00140.x

18. Kaae, R. S., & Shorey, H. H. (1972). Sex Pheromones of Noctuid Moths. Xxvii. Influence of Wind Velocity on Sex Pheromone Releasing Behavior of Trichoplusia ni Females1,2. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 65(2), 436–440. doi: 10.1093/aesa/65.2.436

19. Shorey, H. H., Gaston, L. K., & Jefferson, R. N. (1968). Insect sex pheromones. Advances in pest control research, 8, 57–126.

20. Pai, I., Hegde, S. (1995). Rare male mating phenomenon in mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori L. Annals of Entomology, 13(1), 43–45.

21. Holbrook, R. F., Beroza, M., & Burgess, E. D. (1960). Gypsy Moth (Porthetria dispar) Detection with the Natural Female Sex Lure. Journal of Economic Entomology, 53(5), 751–756. doi: 10.1093/jee/53.5.751

22. Seybert, J. P., & Gara, R. I. (1970). Notes on Flight and Host-Selection Behavior of the Pine Engraver,Ips pini(Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 63(4), 947–950. doi: 10.1093/aesa/63.4.947

23. Falach, L. & Shani, A. (2000). Trapping efficiency and sex ratio of Maladera matrida beetles in yellow and black traps. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 29(11), 2619–2624. doi: 10.1023/A:1005597031681

24. McEwen, P. K. (1995). Attractiveness of yellow sticky traps to Green lacewings (Neuropt., Chrysopidae). The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine, 131, 163–166.

25. Xido, C., Hu, Chun-Hua, Du, Jia-Wei, Zhang, Zhong-Ning. (2002). Povedencheskie reakcii imago Helicoverpa armigera na zapah uvjadshih list'ev Pterocarya stenoptera [Behavioral reactions of adults Helicoverpa armigera the smell of withered leaves Pterocarya stenoptera]. Kunchong Zhishi, 39(4), 278–281 (in Russian).

26. Hoikkala, A., Aspi, J., & Suvanto, L. (1998). Male courtship song frequency as an indicator of male genetic quality in an insect species, Drosophila montana. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 265(1395), 503–508. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1998.0323