Environmental Entomology (1983) 12, 700-702

T.F. Branson and P.L. Guss (1983)
Olfactory responses of Diabrotica spp. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) to cut fruits of bitter and nonbitter Cucurbita spp.
Environmental Entomology 12 (3), 700-702
Abstract: Laboratory tests indicated that adult Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte had the same olfactory response to the cut fruits of four Cucurbita species: the bitter C. texana Gray and C. andreana Naud. and their respective nonbitter relatives C. pepo L. and C. maxima Duch. Field tests indicated that there were no significant differences in the numbers of adult Diabrotica spp. captured on sticky traps baited with the cut fruits of C. texana or C. pepo, or on an unbaited control. We concluded that the cut fruits of C. texana and C. andreana were not more attractive to adult Diabrotica spp. than were the cut fruits of C. pepo and C. maxima. Since C. texana and C. andreana contain large quantities of cucurbitacins and C. pepo and C. maxima do not, we must also conclude that cucurbitacins in these bitter fruits did not act as Diabrotica attractants. The preference of Diabrotica spp. to choose bitter over nonbitter Cucurbita spp. as aggregation sites is not due to a differential olfactory response to the cut fruits, per se.
(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

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Diabrotica virgifera