Identification of chemical imposition stimulants for the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, present in three species of Brassicaceae

Reed, D.W.; Pivnick, K.A.; Underhill, E.W.

Identification of chemical imposition stimulants for the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, present in three species of Brassicaceae

1989

Reed, D.W. | Pivnick, K.A. | Underhill, E.W.

Plant chemicals in three cruciferous crop species, Brassica napus L., B. juncea (L.) Czerniak, and Sinapis alba L., that stimulate oviposition in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) were investigated in laboratory bioassays. Aerial portions of 4- to 6-week-old plants were extracted and fractionated using ion-exchange liquid chromatography. The oviposition stimulants were identified as glucosinolates, which are found in all Brassicaceae species. Activity of extracts was largely eliminated by treatment with myrosinase or sulphatase, enzymes which degrade glucosinolates. Reference standards of the same glucosinolates and in the same concentrations as in the extracts were equally stimulatory. A test with eight different glucosinolates demonstrated that the moths do not discriminate between glucosinolates with different side-chain structures. However, in tests using allylglucosinolate the oviposition response was dose-dependent. One of the species tested, S. alba, contained a possible oviposition deterrent.

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