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Toxicity of nonhost phototoxins to parsnip webworms(Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae)

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Summary

The parsnip webworm,Depressaria pastinacella (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae), feeds exclusively on apiaceous hostplants containing furanocoumarins, compounds capable of oxygen-dependent and oxygen-independend photosensitization. Despite high titers of antioxidant enzymes relative to other herbivorous insects, webworms cannot tolerate nonhost photosensitizers such as alpha-terthienyl or beta-carboline alkaloids at dietary concentrations of 0.01% or less. Tolerance of skimmianine, a furano-quinoline alkaloid, may be due to its structural resemblance to furanocoumarins, which are metabolized by cytochrome P450 monooxygenases in this species.

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  1. May R. Berenbaum & Keywan Lee

    Present address: Laboratory of Plant Pigment Biochemistry and Photobiology, University of Illinois, 202 ABL, 1302 W. Pennsylvania Ave., 61801, Urbana, Illinois, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, 320 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Ave, 61801-3795, Urbana, Illinois, USA

    May R. Berenbaum & Keywan Lee

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  1. May R. Berenbaum
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Berenbaum, M.R., Lee, K. Toxicity of nonhost phototoxins to parsnip webworms(Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae) . Chemoecology 1, 81–85 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01241647

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