Individual Variation in Sex Pheromone Component Ratios in Two Populations of the Redbanded Leafroller Moth, Argyrotaenia velutinana1

Abstract

Gas chromatographic analyses of pheromone component ratios from 381 individual female tip extracts from field and laboratory populations of redbanded leafroller moths revealed that a narrow-variance signal (coefficient of variance = 9.7%) was used by both populations. Although all measured ratios of ( E )-/( Z )-11-tetradecenyl acetates for both populations fell within 4–15% for the E -component, the untransformed means and standard deviations for the field and lab insects were 9.1±1.8 and 7.0±1.4%, respectively (difference significant at P<0.01). The field Insects contained an average of 139±81 ng of pheromone/female compared to 107±58 ng/female for the laboratory insects. No significant relationships were found between insect body weights, quantity of pheromone, or component ratios.