Morphology And Histology Of The Female Sex Pheromone Gland In The Armyworm Moth, Spodoptera Exempta (walker)

Abstract

The work forming this thesis is a description of the structure of the sex pheromone gland in females of the African armyworm moth, Spodoptera exempta (walker). A general introductory account about the classification of pheromones and their production by females among insects forms the subject matter of chapter one. This is followed by outlines of objectives (chapter two) and materials and methods (chapter three). The results are presented in chapter four. They include those of electroantoantennogram bioassay and external morphology studies, showing that the sex pheromone gland in S. exempta, as in the other moths, is located in the intersegmental membrane between abdominal segments eight and nine. The gland is a ventral, bilobed, eversible sac. A fully everted sac has a surface of…………………..