Environmental Entomology (1980) 9, 155-158

Robert P. Doss (1980)
Extraction, chromatography, and bioassay of obscure root weevil (Sciopithes obscurus) phagostimulants from rhododendron 'Cynthia'
Environmental Entomology 9 (2), 155-158
Abstract: Obscure root weevil (Sciopithes obscurus Horn) feeding stimulants can be obtained from leaf tissue of the Rhododendron cv. Cynthia (R. catawbiense Michaux X R. griffithianum Wight). Exhaustive ethanolic extraction, followed by solvent partitioning against hexanes and thin-layer chromatography of the ethanolic and hexanes fractions, yields three components with phagostimulatory activity in a membrane filter insect feeding bioassay. Sucrose, one of the obscure root weevil feeding stimulants present in the leaves of 'Cynthia', is more potent in the insect feeding bioassay than several other simple carbohydrates.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
resistance/tolerance/defence of host

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Sciopithes obscurus	Rhododendron (crop)	U.S.A. (NW)