CONIFER ALKALOIDS - PART 7 - SPRUCE BUDWORM LARVAL PROCESSING OF PIPERIDINE ALKALOIDS FROM SPRUCE NEEDLES

New needle bundles of Picea englemannii (Engelmann spruce) and Picea p ungens (blue spruce) contain disubstituted piperidine alkaloids. Nc al kaloids were found in western spruce budworm larvae (Choristoneura occ identalis), which were feeding on the needles, but needle alkaloids we re present in the budworm frass. Excretion of the alkaloids by the bud worm larvae, either intact or after a metabolic change, was the common processing pathway. No sequestration could be demonstrated.