ABSTRACT the First Through Fifth Instars of the Gypsy Moth Were Tested for Development to Adults on 326 Species of Dicotyledonous Plants in Laboratory Feeding Trials
LABORATORY FEEDING TESTS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF GYPSY MOTH LARVAE WITH REFERENCE TO PLANT TAXA AND ALLELOCHEMICALS JEFFREY C. MILLER and PAUL E. HANSON DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY, CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331 ABSTRACT The first through fifth instars of the gypsy moth were tested for development to adults on 326 species of dicotyledonous plants in laboratory feeding trials. Among accepted plants, differences in suitability were documented by measuring female pupal weights. The majority of accepted plants belong to the subclasses Dilleniidae, Hamamelidae, and Rosidae. Species of oak, maple, alder, madrone, eucalyptus, poplar, and sumac were highly suitable. Plants belonging to the Asteridae, Caryophyllidae, and Magnoliidae were mostly rejected. Foliage type, new or old, and instar influenced host plant suitability. Larvae of various instars were able to pupate after feeding on foliage of 147 plant species. Of these, 1.01 were accepted by first instars. Larvae from the first through fifth instar failed to molt on foliage of 151 species. Minor feeding occurred on 67 of these species. In general, larvae accepted new foliage on evergreen species more readily than old foliage. The results of these trials were combined with results from three previous studies to provide data on feeding responses of gypsy moth larvae on a total of 658 species, 286 genera, and 106 families of dicots. Allelochemic compositions of these plants were tabulated from available literature and compared with acceptance or rejection by gypsy moth. Plants accepted by gypsy moth generally contain tannins, but lack alkaloids, iridoid monoterpenes, sesquiterpenoids, diterpenoids, and glucosinolates. 2 PREFACE This research was funded through grants from USDA Forest Service cooperative agreement no.
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