Effect of Flavonoid Pigments and Gossypol on Growth and Development of the Bollworm, Tobacco Budworm, and Pink Bollworm123

Abstract

Quercetin isoquercitrin (quercetin-3-glucoside), and rutin (quercetin-3-mtinoside), all flavonoid compounds found in the cotton plant, and morin (3,5,7,2’,4’-pentahydroxyflavone) quercltrin (quercetin-3-rhamnoside), and hesperidin (a representative flavonone glycoside), related compounds not found in cotton, were incorporated into the artificial diet of larvae of the pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders); the bollworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie); and the tobacco budworm, H.cirescens (F.), to determine their effect on larval and pupal development. Also, gossypol and pigment glands were tested in the same way against pink bollworms. All pigments except hesperidin were toxic to pink bollworms and to the 2 Heliothis spp. Morin, an isomer of quercetin, was less toxic than quercetin to bollworms and tobacco budworms but as toxic as quercetin to pink bollworms.