Ascorbic Acid in the Nutrition of Plant-Feeding Insects

Abstract

Bollworms, Heliothis zea (Boddie), and salt-marsh caterpillars, Estigmene acrea (Drury) gradually decreased in ascorbic acid content as they matured, even in its presence. Cotton leafworms, Alabama argillacea (Hübner), also lost ascorbic acid, although a dietary need for the vitamin was not proved. Pink bollworms, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders), reared without the vitamin, increased in ascorbic acid content as they matured, an indication that the vitamin was synthesized by the insect.