Phytoecdysteroids as antifeedants towards several beetles that include polyphagous and monophagous feeding guilds

Plants are thought to produce ecdysteroids as a means of protection from insect herbivores. Some insects will not feed on plants containing high amounts of phytoecdysteroids, and this response could be limited to monophagous and oligophagous insects. The aim of this study was to determine whether phytoecdysteroids could inhibit feeding in several species of beetles that range from monophagous to polyphagous.

Here we demonstrate that phytoecdysteroids, including 20-hydroxyecdysone, prevent several beetle species from feeding on preferred host plants, including the polyphagous Japanese beetle Popillia japonica (Scarabaeidae). Phytoecdysteroids prevented feeding damage when sprayed onto soybean plants in no-choice and choice assays in a dose-dependent manner. Laboratory assays indicate that other plants could be protected from Japanese beetle herbivory, including linden, wild grape, elm, Virginia creeper and rose leaves. Additional beetle species tested in the family Chrysomelidae included the oligophagous Cerotoma trifurcata and Diabrotica virgifera virgifera and the monophagous Trirhabda canadensis. All species were prevented from feeding when their preferred host plants were treated with phytoecdysteroids.

This study demonstrates that beetles, representing polyphagous and monophagous feeding guilds, can be prevented from feeding when phytoecdysteroids are applied to the leaf surface. The phytoecdysteroids could be utilized in pest management towards a variety of beetles, including the more pestiferous polyphagous species, if the compounds are placed on the leaf surface. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.