Seasonal Changes of Moths Populations and Some Concomitant Behaviours of Amphipyra Species at an Aestivation Site with Notes on the Controlling Factors (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)

Numbers of adults of Amphipyra livida corvina, A. monolitha surnia, A. tripartita and A. erebina at an aestivation site were examined for three seasons. The aestivation periods in the former three species were apparently longer than in A. erebina. In parallel, copulation and oviposition in these species were more delayed. Only A. erebina was attracted to light and bait during the aestivation period. The ovarian maturation and oviposition in A. livida corvina were accelerated under the short photoperiod, irrespective of the thermal conditions. The suppressive effect of the long photoperiod on the ovarian development and copulation was intense at 21 and 27℃, and not so at 15℃. It seems likely that the photoperiod may play an important role in control of the aestivation diapause in Amphipyra moths.