Ovipositional response of tobacco budworm moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to cuticular labdanes and sucrose esters from the green leaves ofNicotiana glutinosa L. (Solanaceae)

Field plots of three accessions ofNicotiana glutinosa L. (Nicotiana species accessions 24, 24A, and 24B) at Oxford, North Carolina and Tifton, Georgia were heavily damaged by natural populations of tobacco budworms,Heliothis virescens (F.), during 1985–1989. Experiments in outdoor screen cages demonstrated that all accessions ofN. glutinosa were as prone to oviposition byH. virescens moths as was NC 2326, a commercial cultivar of flue-cured tobacco,N. tabacum L. However, in greenhouse experiments, tobacco budworm larvae did not survive or grow as well when placed on plants ofN. glutinosa as they did when placed on plants of NC 2326. Four labdane diterpenes (manool, 2-hydroxymanool, a mixture of sclareols, and labda-13-ene-8,15-diol labdenediol]) and two sucrose ester fractions (2,3,4-tri-O-acyl-3-O-acetyl-sucrose G-SE-I] and 2,3,4,-tri-O-acyl-sucrose G-SE-II]) were isolated from green leaves of the three accessions ofN. glutinosa. These components were bioassayed for their effects on the ovipositional behavior of tobacco budworm moths using small screen cages in a greenhouse at Oxford, North Carolina. Labdenediol, manool, and both sucrose ester fractions stimulated tobacco budworm moths to oviposit on a tobacco budworm-resistant Tobacco Introduction, TI 1112 (PI 124166), when these materials were sprayed onto a leaf.This article reports the results of research only. Mention of a proprietary product does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for its use by USDA, ARS, or by the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service.