Environmental Entomology (1998) 27, 984-992

Boguang Zhao, G.G. Grant, D. Langevin and L. MacDonald (1998)
Deterring and inhibiting effects of quinolizidine alkaloids on spruce budworm (Lepidoptera : Tortricidae) oviposition
Environmental Entomology 27 (4), 984-992
Abstract: Although alkaloids are known feeding deterrents for lepidepteran larvae, including the spruce budworm Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens), few studies have investigated their effects on lepidopterous oviposition. Quinolizidine-containing alkaloid extracts and isolated quinolizidine alkaloids were obtained from 2 Chinese plants, Sophora alopecuroides L. and Thermopsis lanceolata Robert Brown, to evaluate their effects on spruce budworm, oviposition. Application of extracts from either plant on Parafilm substrate significantly deterred oviposition at dosages as low as 4.7 and 7.9 µg/cm², respectively, in dual-choice bioassays, Of 9 quinolizidine alkaloids produced by these plants, 6 deterred oviposition on Parafilm substrate treated at 7.9 µg/ cm² or less. The most effective compounds were aloperine (0.3 µg/cm² = 1.3 nmol/ cm²), sparteine (1.6 µg/ cm² = 6.8 nmol/ cm²), and cytisine (1.6 µg/cm² = 8.4 nmol/ cm²). Oviposition was deterred also on fresh host foliage, 8-cm twigs of balsam fir, Abies balsamea (L.) Miller, which had been sprayed with either a 1-ml aliquot of alkaloid extract (10 mg/ml) of S. alopecuroides or 1 ml of an aloperine solution (1 mg/ml). There was no effect on longevity of males or females continuously exposed to artificial substrate treated with aloperine or alkaloid extract from S. alopecuroides in no-choice bioassays, nor was the ability of males to inseminate females affected. However, female production of egg masses was inhibited, although clutch size (eggs per egg mass) was not affected. These results are the 1st demonstration of the behaviorally deterring and physiologically inhibiting effects of quinolizidine alkaloids on lepidopteran oviposition.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Boguang Zhao, Gary G. Grant

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Choristoneura fumiferana