Laboratory Evaluation of Plant-Derived Antifeedants Against the Pine Weevil Hylobius abietis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Abstract

We assayed 12 plant-derived and 1 insect-produced allelochemicals—verbenone, borneol, bornyl acetate, carvone, cucurbitacin, myrcene, limonin, 4-allyanisole, α- pinene, β-pinene, limonene, and coumarin—for inhibition of feeding by the pine weevil Hylobius abietisL. Scots pine twigs were treated with these compounds dissolved in ethyl acetate solvent, and adult weevils were fed for 48 h on the twigs in both choice and no-choice assays. Coumarin, carvone, verbenone, and limonin were consistently inhibitory to feeding by both male and female H. abietis. Borneol and 4-allyanisole also demonstrated some activity as an antifeedant compound against H. abietis. The remainder of the compounds did not consistently inhibit weevil feeding. Sex of weevils or temperature in cold storage (10 or 5°C) did not consistently affect amount of bark feeding. A 48-h feeding period gave more distinct effects for active compounds than did a 24-h test.