Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Learning, odour preference and flower foraging in moths.

John Paul Cunningham1, Chris J Moore, Myron P Zalucki

  • 1Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane 4072, Australia. p.cunningham@uq.edu.au

The Journal of Experimental Biology
|November 26, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Moths learn to prefer floral scents associated with food. This learned preference guides their foraging behavior, allowing them to discriminate between flower types based on specific volatile compounds.

Related Concept Videos

Pollination and Flower Structure02:40

Pollination and Flower Structure

75.0K
Flowers are the reproductive, seed-producing structures of angiosperms. Typically, flowers consist of sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels. Sepals and petals are the vegetative flower organs. Stamens and carpels are the reproductive organs.  
75.0K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Armoured Amazon female† moths: urticating setae in Notodontidae (Lepidoptera).

Journal of insect science (Online)·2026
Same author

Social immunity can be a consequence and cause of social evolution.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Cytoplasmic flow dynamics in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are intrinsic and independent of plant hosts.

Fungal biology·2026
Same author

Symbiotic fungi underlie the regeneration potential of island rainforests.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same author

An insect that cooperates like bacteria.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

The Evolutionary and Ecological Consequences of Cooperation.

The American naturalist·2026

Area of Science:

  • Plant-insect interactions
  • Chemical ecology
  • Animal behavior

Background:

  • Floral volatiles are key signals in plant-insect communication.
  • The moth Helicoverpa armigera relies on olfactory cues for foraging.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the influence of phenylacetaldehyde and alpha-pinene on moth foraging behavior.
  • To determine if olfactory learning modifies innate responses to floral volatiles.
  • To assess the moth's ability to discriminate between flowers based on single volatile differences.

Main Methods:

  • Dual-choice wind tunnel tests to assess innate and learned responses to volatiles.
  • Pairing volatile exposure with a sucrose feeding stimulus for olfactory learning.
  • Outdoor flight cage experiments to test discrimination between odor-enhanced flowers.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Adult moths showed an innate attraction to both phenylacetaldehyde and alpha-pinene, preferring phenylacetaldehyde.
  • Associating volatiles with a feeding stimulus resulted in a learned preference for the paired odor.
  • Moths successfully discriminated between flowers enhanced with different volatiles, preferring the one they were trained on.
  • Unfed moths exhibited reduced learned preferences, highlighting the role of hunger in olfactory learning.

Conclusions:

  • Helicoverpa armigera exhibits both innate and learned responses to floral volatiles.
  • Olfactory learning, driven by feeding rewards, significantly alters moth foraging preferences.
  • Moths can discriminate between individual flowers of the same species based on subtle differences in their volatile profiles, optimizing nectar foraging.