F. Ortego et al., ENTERIC AND PLANT-DERIVED DETERRENTS IN REGURGITATE OF AMERICAN BIRD GRASSHOPPER, SCHISTOCERCA-AMERICANA, Journal of chemical ecology, 23(8), 1997, pp. 1941-1950
Regurgitates of the grasshopper Schistocerca americana were deterrent
to Crematogaster ants. Regurgitates obtained from insects fed upon whe
at seedlings were more strongly deterrent than those obtained from ins
ects fed on romaine lettuce leaves. After extraction of the regurgitat
es with ethyl acetate, deterrence could be demonstrated in both the or
ganic and aqueous phases. Wheat seedlings, lettuce, and feces from whe
at-or lettuce-fed insects yielded extracts with lower deterrency. Our
results suggest that deterrents in the organic phase of the regurgitat
e are primarily due to the presence of plant natural products, whereas
the deterrency of the aqueous phase is probably due to digestive enzy
mes from enteric components, probably digestive enzymes.