Production of pheromone by hairpencil glands of males obtained from interspecific hybridization betweenHeliothis virescens andH. subflexa (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

Pheromone produced by the hairpencil glands of interspecific hybrid- and backcross-generation males from crosses betweenHeliothis virescens (F.) withH. subflexa (Gn.) was studied. Males of reciprocal F1 hybrids, all of which had hairpencil glands morphologically similar to those ofH. virescens, produced neither the same pheromone blend nor amounts of pheromone that were produced by males ofH. virescens. Instead, these hybrid males produced pheromone that was quantitatively and qualitatively similar to that produced byH. subflexa. Hairpencil gland extracts from males obtained from backcrossing F1 females of either cross to males ofH. subflexa were the same as those ofH. subflexa. However, extracts from backcross males of crosses between F1 females andH. virescens were variable. Some extracts from these backcross males were like those ofH. virescens while others were either likeH. subflexa or were intermediate between those of the parent species. These results showed that the production of pheromone by the hairpencil glands of hybrid and backcross males is under the dominant regulation of autosomal genes of theH. subflexa genome.