D.N. LAPSHIN

CONTRADICTIONS IN DATA FROM ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL EXPERIMENTS USING RESULTS FROM TESTING THE AUDITORY SYSTEM OF NOCTUID MOTHS (LEPIDOPTERA, NOCTUIDAE) AS AN EXAMPLE

The yellow-line quaker Agrochola macilenta Hbn. and the herald moth Scoliopteryx libatrix L., which are noctuid moths, were tested with sequences of pulses resembling bat echolocation signals in conditions of fixed flight. Changes in the directional aerodynamic force were studied in flying moths in relation to the amplitude and filling frequency of acoustic stimuli in the frequency range 10-140 kHz. Averaged frequency-threshold plots for exemplars of both species were similar in shape to audiograms from moth tympanic organ auditory receptors, though the thresholds recorded in behavioral tests were an average of 35 dB lower than the thresholds of tympanic organ auditory receptors. The possible mechanisms regulating acoustic sensitivity in intact moths and influences on the results obtained by recording motor activity in the experimental moths are discussed.