Spruce budworm fumiferana

When abscisic acid is applied to balsam fir, the break of buds in the spring is delayed and the emerging spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana, larvae are forced to feed on old needles, which are a less desirable food. Attempts have been made, rather unsuccessfully, under natural forest situations, to manipulate budbreak with growth retardants for the control of the spruce budworm. However, this system seems to operate under controlled greenhouse conditions, and with some adjustments, it may have potential for practical applications in the field (32). 

Bentley, M. D., Leonard, D. E., Stoddard, W. F. and Zalkow, L. H. (1984). Pyrrolizidine alkaloids as larval feeding deterrents for spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Lepidoptera Tortricidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 77 393-397. 

Delisle, J. and Hardy, M. (1997). Male larval nutrition influences the reproductive success of both sexes of the spruce budworm, Christoneura fumiferana (Lepidoptera Tortricidae). Functional Ecology 11 451 163. 

The chemical and behavioral aspects of the sex pheromones of several forest defoliating insects of economic importance in eastern Canada are presented, with emphasis on the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana. Studies conducted over several years in New Brunswick on the use of pheromones as potential control agents, using in particular the air permeation technique to effect mating disruption, are discussed. The identification and the behavioral effects of minor components of the spruce budworm pheromone system are presented and the potential exploitation of their behavioral roles in the mating sequence in terms of control strategies are addressed. 

Hurtig, H.J. Fettes, J.J. Randall, A.P. Hopewell, W.W., "Field and Laboratory Investigations of the Effectiveness of Insecticidal Sprays Applied from Aircraft in Controlling Larvae of Spruce Budworm (Chroistoneura fumiferana (Clem))", Rep. No. 176, Suffield Exper. Sta., Alberta, Canada, 1953 ... 

Figure 2 represented a log-probit plot of the observed inhibition of purified bovine erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase as a function of concentration for several of the transformation products of aminocarb. The observation that these inhibition curves are parallel suggests a similar mechanism of interaction for the various derivatives. The parameter I5f. (the concentration of inhibitor required to achieve 50% inhibition oi the enzyme activity) for each of the inhibitors were calculated and are recorded in Table 1. These values are reported relative to the parent compound aminocarb = 1. Also included in Table 1 are the relative toxicities of several of these products to house crickets (Acheta domesticus). It had been our intention to develop bioassay tests using the target insect itself, the eastern spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana). However, spray tower results were quite variable and it was considered that genetic variability of the stock culture made the production of uniform test batches difficult to achieve. Using the house crickets, an LD q of 130-155 ppm for aminocarb standard was observed over the course of more than 25 bioassays. Also included in Table 1 are observations by Abdel-Wahab and Casida (19) using human plasma or house fly head cholinesterases. 

The fate of fenitrothion in the environment has been a subject of great interest in Canada since the late 1960 s because of its use for control of the Spruce Budworm (Chorlstoneura fumiferana). Laboratory and field experiments have established that fenitrothion persists for only 1 to several days in natural waters and is degraded primarily by photolysis and microbial activity (1-4). Sorption by sediments, aquatic macrophytes and microphytes are also important paths of loss of the insecticide from the water column (2-5). 

Eastern spruce budworm (iChoristoneura fumiferana) S (11E) tetradec-11-enal F (11Z) tetradec-11-enal t... 

The sex attractant of the eastern spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana, is (E)-ll-tetradecenal (73). A probable precursor, (E)-ll-tetradecen-l-ol, is produced in the sex attractant gland (74), but this compound, which inhibits the male response to the aldehyde, does not appear to be released by the calling female. The (Z)-isomer of tetradecenal has been identified as one of the sex pheromones of the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens it is accompanied by (Z)-ll-hexadecenal (75, 76)7 Similarly, the female of the striped rice borer secretes two alkenals--(Z)-ll-hexadecenal and (Z)-13-octadecenal as its sex pheromone blend (77). 

While two reactions, chain shortening and 11-desaturation, are key steps in the biosynthesis of many pheromones, these pathways also require a reductive step where the acid group is converted to an alcohol, acetate or aldehyde. Studies on the spruce budworm moth (12), Choristoneura fumiferana, and various Heliothis species (13.) indicate that there is a series of reactions, such as those in Fig. 3, to account for the various functionalities. Alcohols and acetates may be stored or released as pheromone aldehydes are too reactive (and potentially dangerous to the insect) to store and so are only produced immediately before release. 

More extensive studies have been done on the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana, (2JL) which uses (E) - and (Z) -11-tetradecenal as pheromone components. Once again, the first step appears to be reduction of the acid to an alcohol. Then an acetyl Co A fatty alcohol acetyltransferase converts the alcohol to the acetate ester (12.). The enzyme is specific for alcohols with chain lengths of 12-15 carbons, and prefers monounsaturated alcohols to saturated ones. It is located specifically in the pheromone gland, and appears to be microsomal. 

The eastern spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana, Clem., is one of the most economically important coniferous forest defoliators in the world. Several mating disruption experiments and field trials have been conducted since the mid 1970 s (5, 6). A great deal has been learned in the process but no clear-cut conclusions regarding the feasibility of this approach as a management tool have, as yet, emerged. In an effort to simplify the interpretation of future field experiments, we undertook a study... 

Chlorosis, Rhododendron and, 202 Choanephora blight, okra and, 154 Choristoneura fumiferana. See Spruce budworms... 

Insecticidal Metabolites from Fusarium avenaceum, a Fungus Associated with Foliage of Abies balsamea Infested by Spruce Budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana... 

Tomatidine (298) was found to be a feeding deterrent to sixth instar larvae of the spruce budworm Choristoneura fumiferana [658] and it strongly inhibited growth in the Xenopus embryo teratogenesis assay [651]. The 3-oxo derivative of 298, and the 23-acetoxy derivative have been isolated from roots of a hybrid of Lycopersicon esculentum x L hirsutum [640],... 

Model model (15.7) has originally been introduced to model insect pest outbreaks of the spruce budworm Choristoneura fumiferana [25]. This forest defoliator lives in the spruce and fir forests of north US and Canada. The budworm population can be either in small numbers (rest state) which are under predatory control by birds. Around approximately every 40 years it comes to an outbreak in the budworm numbers (excited state). Then the insects develop to a pest that can defoliate the trees with enormous environmental and economic damage. 

Simmons, G. A., Leonard, D. E. and Chen, C. W. (1975) Influence of tree species density and composition of parasitism of the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.) Env. Ent., 4, 832-6. 

Palanaswamy, P. and Seabrook, W. D. (1978) Behavioral responses of the female Eastern spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana, to the sex pheromone of her own species. J. Chem. Ecol., 4, 649-55. 

Weatherston, J., W. Roelofs, and A. Comeau Studies of physiologically active arthropod secretions. X. Sex pheromone of the eastern spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Lepidoptera Tortricidae). Can. Entomol. 103, 1741—1747 (1971). 

The importance of the 15,16 double bond of esterified pyrrolizidines was also borne out in a study using the spruce budworm larvae (Choristoneura fumiferana) as a model test system (see Table 2.1). Anti-feeding behavior was recorded for a variety of alkaloids and plant extracts containing alkaloids (1). Of the 14 pyrrolizidine alkaloids examined, only two, senkirkine and lasio-carpine, were highly deterrent (> 75%). When the stereochemistry of the 15,16 double bond of these compounds was modified, as in the case of neosenkirkine, or the double bond was epoxidized, as in otosenine, the deterrent activity of the alkaloid was decreased dramatically. This is in sharp contrast to the increase of toxicity associated with epoxide formation in the case of jacobine... 

In comparison to associated species, black spruce is relatively pest resistant. Black spmce is less susceptible to spmce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana [Clem.]) than white spmce and balsam fir, possibly due to its late bud flush (Blais, 1957), but is also less susceptible to spmce budworm than red spmce, another species exhibiting a late bud flush (Manley and Fowler, 1969 Osawa, 1989). Whereas spmce budworm feeds on both foliage and cones of white spmce, when on black spmce, it prefers the cones (Prevost, 1990). Manley and Fowler (1969) speculated that resistance to spmce budworm is polygenic, as segregation was not apparent in red x black spmce hybrids. 

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