Leaf epicuticular wax chemicals of the Japanese knotweed Fallopia japonica as oviposition stimulants for Ostrinia latipennis.
Extraction, fractionation, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses guided by bioassays have shown that n-alkanes and free fatty acids in leaf epicuticular wax of the Japanese knotweed Fallopia (Reynoutria) japonica stimulate oviposition in the Far-Eastern knotweed borer, Ostrinia latipennis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). n-Alkanes made up 48.1% of the total amount of epicuticular wax, and their carbon chain length was in the C(16)-C(33) range, with n-nonacosane (n-C(29)) most abundant, followed by n-C(27), n-C(25), and n-C(31). Free fatty acids with C(9)-C(22) accounted for 22.3%, and hexadecanoic acid was predominant. A mixture of authentic n-alkanes and fatty acids of the composition found in the epicuticular wax, a mixture of n-alkanes, and a mixture of fatty acids significantly enhanced oviposition. Thus, it was demonstrated that both n-alkanes and free fatty acids in leaf epicuticular wax of F. japonica are naturally occurring oviposition stimulants for O. latipennis.
Laboratory of Applied Entomology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Japan. liguoqing001234@yahoo.com.cn
Guoqing
G
Li
Yukio
Y
Ishikawa
D000473:Alkanes / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D045468:Fallopia japonica / Q000737:chemistry*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D010058:Oviposition / Q000502:physiology*; D010063:Ovum / Q000502:physiology; D019441:Plant Epidermis / Q000737:chemistry*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry*; D014885:Waxes / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*
D000473:Alkanes; D005227:Fatty Acids; D014885:Waxes