Phenolic secondary compounds as determinants of the host plant preferences of the leaf beetle Agelastica alni

Abstract

When the palatability of five plant species was studied in laboratory feeding trials, Alnus incana L. was the preferred host for an oligophagous leaf beetle, Agelastica alni L. In addition, Salix phylicifolia L. and S. caprea L. were consumed moderately, but S. myrsinifolia Salisb. and S. pentandra L. were rejected. The feeding preferences in the laboratory well predicted the distribution of A. alni adults on the alternative host species in nature. As a potential explanation for the observed host utilization pattern, willows were found to contain more condensed tannins in their leaves than the preferred grey alder, A. incana. However, (+)-catechin, a basic structural unit of condensed tannin molecules, showed no deterrent activity against A. alni. In contrast, both chlorogenic acid and a salicylate-type phenolic glucoside, salicin, inhibited the feeding of A. alni in bioassays with pure phenolic compounds. Thus, high leaf content of chlorogenic acid and salicylates appear to largely explain the poor palatability of S. myrsinifolia and S. pentandra for A. alni. On the other hand, as A. alni prefers A. incana over even S. phylicifolia with little potent deterrents in its leaves, leaves of A. incana probably contain some specific stimulants for A. alni. Experiments with pure phenolic compounds suggest that these stimulants may overcome the effects of potential deterrents tested on A. incana leaves. This means that the effects of individual secondary compounds on A. alni may be modified by the background composition of other leaf chemicals.

Triterpenoid and caffeic acid derivatives in the leaves of ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. (Asterales: Asteraceae), as feeding stimulants of Ophraella communa LeSage (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

“…It has been reported that chlorogenic acid inhibits the larval development of some Lepidoptera, such as Heliothis zea, H. armigera and Spodoptera frugiperda (Elliger et al 1981;Isman & Duffey 1982;Kimmins et al 1995;Wiseman et al 1990). Furthermore, chlorogenic acid deters feedings of some adult leaf beetles, Lochmaeae capreae cribrate (Matsuda & Senbo 1986), Lochmaea capreae and Agelastica alni (Ikonen et al 2001(Ikonen et al , 2002 even though it elicited feeding of O. communa in our study. Both chlorogenic acid and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid were induced and accumulated in lettuce, Lactuca sativa L. by wounding (Tomás-Barberán et al 1997).…”

Identification of Chlorogenic Acid as a Resistance Factor for Thrips in Chrysanthemum

“…This negative effect on herbivores has primarily been shown for caterpillars in vitro (Bernays et al, 2000;Beninger et al, 2004) and in vivo (Elliger et al, 1981;Huang and Renwick, 1995;Mallikarjuna et al, 2004). In addition a harmful effect of chlorogenic acid has been shown for different leaf beetles (Fulcher et al, 1998;Ikonen, et al, 2002;Jassbi, 2003) as well as for a leafhopper (Dowd and Vega, 1996) and for aphids (Miles and Oertli, 1993). Chlorogenic acid not only affects the primary but also the secondary trophic level.…”

“…In willow (Salix spp. ), the response of different leaf beetles on foliar chlorogenic acid was dependant on willow species (Ikonen et al, 2001(Ikonen et al, , 2002. Miles and Oertli (1993) already suggested that a balance of reduction and oxidation, i.e.…”

Does defoliation induce chemical and morphological defenses in the leaves of silver birch seedlings under changing climate?

“…We also studied the palatability of the leaves for the adult blue alder leaf beetles (Agelastica alni). These insects are generalist herbivores grazing on both Betulaceous and Salicaceous plants (Baur & Rank 1996;Ikonen et al 2002). A feeding trial was conducted to determine the absolute eaten leaf biomass (mg DW) from the leaves of differently treated plants.…”