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Detection of moths and plants by infrared radiation (IR) is possible by night-flying moths. The thermal radiation emissivity of green plants is high (0.96) and that of a plowed field low (0.28). Four elements of the biosphere, temperature, atmospheric moisture, CO2 and O3 could hinder transmission.Corn earworm flight temperatures rise 3°C above ambient and at 25°C it would be broadcasting a chopped IR frequency of approximately 31 tetracycles. Water vapor is the principal attenuator of IR radiation. Data shows that moth activity decreases sharply with increases in actual water content of the air. Optimum temperatures and humidity are most likely to occur in spring and early summer between 21:00 and 04:00 hr. This coincides with the period of maximum corn earworm activity. Data indicates an inverse relationship between 03 and insect activity. Data from 4 sequentially programmed light traps indicate that flight behavior of insects is timed for the period of optimum reception by insect sensors.

I HAVE earlier postulated1,2 a completely new concept of the insect environment based on infra-red frequency transmission through infra-red atmospheric windows. This concept involves the utilization of such transmitted frequencies in the life cycle and behaviour of night-flying moths. I postulated that moths may locate their mates, chemical releasers (scents), and host plants by means of infra-red frequency detection and that the night-adapted eye of nocturnal moths shifts slowly from the short-wave visible spectrum of daylight to the longer and longer infra-red frequencies as it becomes night-adapted. When totally dark-adapted, it attains the configuration of a mosaic optic-electromagnetic thermal radiometer for night-time detection of infra-red frequencies. I further postulated that the antennal spines may be resonant cavities for infra-red detection. Laithwaite3 has postulated a similar theory for the assembling of moths. In testing the validity that a moth might locate its mate by thermal far infra-red, the following experiments were performed

Turbulence in the solar wind near the sun is investigated using records of changes in the integrated electron columnar content along the line of sight to Mariners 6, 7, and 9. The comoving turbulence spectrum is found to be well represented by a power law with an index of about 3.9. The turbulence is shown to decline with heliocentric distance, and the data suggest a region of enhanced turbulence near the sun. The Mariner-9 spectral amplitudes are found to correspond with Zurich sunspot numbers. Implications of the present observations are discussed for contemporary theories on solar-wind heating.

Several species of insects were subjected to far infrared (IR) radiation from a Glagolewa-Arkadiewa "mass IR radiator." All insects responded to the radiator with antennae movement, antennae cleaning behavior, or oviposition. In antennectomized male corn earworm moths, Heliothis zea (Boddie), significant differences in mating success were related to the length of antennae removed. This indicates that the antennal sensilla, whose pattern is repeated on each segment, and not the total antenna, is responsible for far IR detection.