Morphological description of the sex pheromone gland of helicoverpa armigera (hübner) (lepidoptera: noctuidae)

Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a polyphagous pest insect of wide distribution and observed in Brazil for the first time in 2013. The population control of H. armigera can be affected by using sex pheromones that is a product of glandular synthesis and secretion, whose location and morphology show heterogeneity according to the group. Considering that there are few studies on the glandular structure in H. armigera, we have analyzed the morphology its sex pheromone gland, revealing its anatomical position. For this, the insects were obtained from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation - Embrapa-CNP So and were raised until adulthood. At this stage, the ovopositor apparatus of the female moths were collected and fixed, following the histological processing. The morphological analysis of H. armigera ovopositor apparatus revealed that the sex pheromone gland was positioned between the 8th and 9th abdominal segments. The gland was organized into a simple, continuous epithelium of the tegument and the cell format varied from pavement to slightly cubic and, depending on proximity to villi, columnar. The pheromone gland can be bulging in the "calling" period and is covered by the cuticle and hairs that aid in the spread of the sex pheromone.