AFFINITY OF SPOTTED CUCUMBER BEETLE (COLEOPTERA, CHRYSOMELIDAE) LARVAE TO CUCURBITACINS

Adults of several species of cucumber beetles compulsively eat bitter triterpene cucurbitacins, but it is unknown if their larvae exhibit the same behavior. The affinity of spotted cucumber beetle larvae to cucurbitacins was tested by performing feeding choice experiments using bitter (Cucurbita andreana Naudin) and nonbitter (C. palmeri Bailey) root cuttings and nonbitter roots of Cucumis sativas L. coated exogenously with cucurbitacin B. Within a 24-h period, larvae ate significantly more of the bitter than the nonbitter roots in both experiments.