Lymantria dispar regulation

In moths, it was discovered in Helicoverpa zea that a peptide produced in the subesophageal ganglion portion of the brain complex regulates pheromone production in female moths (19). This factor has been purified and characterized in three species, Helicoverpa zea (20), Bombyx mori (21, 22), and Lymantria dispar (23). They are all a 33- or 34-amino acid peptide (named pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide, PBAN) and have in common an amidated C-terminal 5-amino acid sequence (FXPRL-amide), which is the minimum peptide fragment required for pheromon-tropic activity. In the redbanded leafroller moth, it was shown that PBAN from the brain stimulates the release of a different peptide from the bursae copulatrix that is used to stimulate pheromone production in the pheromone gland found at the posterior tip of the abdomen (24). 

Thyagaraja B. S. and Raina, A. K. (1994) Regulation of pheromone production in the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, and development of an in vitro bioassay. J. Insect Physiol. 40, 969-974. 

Sex attractants among insects of the order Lepidoptera have received the most detailed chemical study to date. This work has centered mainly on the sex attractants of the silkworm moth [Bombyx mori (L.)] and the gypsy moth [Forthetria ( Lymantria) dispar (L.)]. In both species the attractant is formed in the lateral glands of the virgin female abdomen. The female is able to protrude and retract these glands, and in this manner she regulates the release of the attractant. 

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