Glucosinolate profile and oviposition behavior in relation to the susceptibilities of Brassicaceae to the cabbage seedpod weevil

• Published in: Entomologia experimentalis et applicata Vol. 121; no. 3; pp. 203 - 213
• Main Authors: Ulmer, B.J, Dosdall, L.M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.2006; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Blackwell
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Autoecology; Biological and medical sciences; Brassica; Brassica carinata; Brassica rapa; Brassicaceae; canola; Ceutorhynchus assimilis; Ceutorhynchus obstrictus; chemical constituents of plants; Coleoptera; Curculionidae; development; fecundity; feeding; feeding behavior; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; glucosinolates; host preferences; host-plant resistance; insect growth; insect reproduction; insect-host plant interactions; larval development; oviposition; oviposition preference; oviposition sequence; pest resistance; plant-insect relations; Plants and fungi; Protozoa. Invertebrata; Sinapis alba; Glucosinolate; Coleoptera; Insecta; insect-host plant interactions; Brassica oleracea var. capitata; Pest; Cruciferae; Dicotyledones; Host plant; Insect resistance; Angiospermae; feeding; Development; oviposition sequence; host-plant resistance; Concentration; Feeding preference; canola; Brassica; Vegetable crop; Animal plant relation; Ceutorhynchus obstrictus; Arthropoda; Spermatophyta; Curculionidae; Invertebrata; Egg laying behavior
• ISSN: 0013-8703; 1570-7458
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1570-8703.2006.00480.x

Understanding how host-plant characteristics affect behavioral and physiological responses of insect herbivores is of considerable importance in the development of resistant crop germplasm. Feeding, oviposition preference, larval development, and oviposition behavior of the cabbage seedpod weevil, Ceutorhynchus obstrictus (Marsham) (= Ceutorhynchus assimilis Payk.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), were investigated on eight Brassicaceae species that differed in their glucosinolate profiles. The least preferred host plants for feeding and oviposition were the Sinapis alba L. lines while the Brassica carinata L. line was most preferred. Larval development occurred most rapidly on Brassica rapa L. and slowest on S. alba. Larval weight was highest on B. napus L. and lowest on S. alba. Total glucosinolate levels did not influence C. obstrictus larval growth or development; however high levels of specific glucosinolates such as p-hydroxybenzyl and 3-butenyl glucosinolate were associated with increased developmental time or reduced weight. The time required for oviposition behavioral events was measured on different host-plant species: B. rapa, B. napus, B. napusxS. alba, B. tournefortii Gouan., B. juncea (L.) Czern, B. carinata, B. nigra (L.) Koch., and S. alba. The early steps in the sequence were completed faster on more susceptible host plants (B. carinata, B. napus, and B. rapa) than on relatively resistant ones (B. tournefortii and B. juncea). Females explored pods of B. nigra and S. alba, but oviposition occurred only rarely on these species. There was no significant difference in the location on the pod on which oviposition occurred among the different plant species. Mean eggs laid per female weevil were highest on the B. napusxS. alba hybrid and lowest on B. nigra and S. alba.