A MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY TO PINK-BOLLWORM (LEPIDOPTERA, GELECHIIDAE) EGGANTIGEN - A TOOL FOR PREDATOR GUT ANALYSIS

We describe the development, selection, and application of a monoclona l antibody (MAb) to eggs of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (S aunders). We tested this MAb against all pink bollworm life stages and the egg stage of 10 other insect species using an enzyme-linked immun osorbent assay (ELISA). In all cases, the MAb was highly specific to p ink bollworm egg and adult female antigens. A Western blot analysis sh owed that the MAb reacted with two egg polypeptides with molecular wei ghts between 46 and 60 kDa. Predation studies were conducted in the la boratory to test the usefulness of this MAb for studying predator-prey interactions. Most predators fed either one or two pink bollworm eggs responded positively to the MAb in a serological analysis of gut cont ents. These data suggest that this MAb can be used as a diagnostic pro be for gut content analysis of potential predators of pink bollworm eg gs under field conditions.