Abstract:

The sex pheromone communication is one of the chemical communications which are universal and ancient in nature. Most lepidopterous moths rely on the species specific sex pheromone communication for mate finding and reproductive isolation between species. The processes for inheritance and evolution of speciesspecific sex pheromone communication are always a part of the process of speciation. Although no direct evidence for that the splitting of sex pheromone communication initializes the process of speciation, the research results for polymorphic pheromone channel and genetic architecture of pheromone communication system indicated the sex pheromone could shift and pheromone acceptor could track the shift. In this paper, we reviewed the research progresses of inheritance and evolution of sex pheromone communication system and discussed the role of pheromone communication system for speciation.

Key words: Lepidoptera, moths, sex pheromone, sex pheromone communication system, inheritance, evolution, speciation, reproductive isolation