Abstract
Yponomeuta cagnagellus is a phytophagous moth species specialized on Euonymus europaeus. Host discrimination by the adult female is an important aspect of host specialization and is based mainly on the distinctive secondary chemistry of host and nonhosts. This paper describes a bioassay that was developed to study the effect of isolated plant surface compounds on Yponomeuta oviposition. Adult moths recognize their hosts through chemical stimuli on the leaf or twig surface. Relatively apolar compounds extracted from the host twig surface by washing in dichlormethane do not stimulate oviposition. More polar, methanol-soluble compounds do, and this stimulation is dose dependent. Moths are able to recognize hosts solely by their surface compounds: females show a strong preference for artificial twigs treated with methanolic extracts of their hosts compared to those treated with methanolic extracts of nonhosts Crataegus monogyna and Prunus spinosa (both of which are hosts for closely related Y. padellus). Shape and surface characteristics of the oviposition substrate also influence oviposition. The substrate needs to resemble the basic form of a twig (i.e., cylindrical), and females prefer a coarse surface with irregularities over a smooth one.
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Hora, K.H., Roessingh, P. A Novel Bioassay for Yponomeuta cagnagellus Oviposition in Response to Extracts of Host and Nonhost Plant Surface Compounds. J Chem Ecol 25, 2547–2559 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020882326462
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020882326462