STRATOSPHERIC OZONE DEPLETION AND PLANT-INSECT INTERACTIONS - EFFECTSOF UVB RADIATION ON FOLIAGE QUALITY OF CITRUS-JAMBHIRI FOR TRICHOPLUSIA NI

Projected decreases in stratospheric ozone may result in increases in shortwave ultraviolet (UVB) irradiation at the earth's surface. Furano coumarins, phototoxic compounds found in Citrus jambhiri foliage, incr ease in concentration when these plants are grown under enhanced WB. S urvivorship schedules of Trichoplusia ni (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) cate rpillars reared on plants in the presence and absence of enhanced UVB regimes differ significantly; larvae develop more slowly in early life when reared on plants exposed to increased UVB. This same development al pattern is observed when T. ni larvae are reared on artificial diet s amended with ecologically appropriate amounts of furanocoumarins. Th us, anthropogenically derived changes in stratospheric ozone and conco mitant changes in W light quality at the earth's surface may influence ecological interactions between insects and their host plants by alte ring secondary metabolism and hence foliage quality for herbivores.