Fatty acid and glycogen requirement of Heliothis virescens infected with cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus

Abstract

1. 1. Five-day-old larvae of Heliothis virescens infected with cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (CPV) had 66% more fatty acid calories than healthy larvae of the same age. 2. 2. Fatty acid caloric values of healthy and CPV-infected pupae were not significantly different. 3. 3. Infected pupae had six times the fatty acid calories of 10-day-old larvae; healthy pupae had a three-fold increase. 4. 4. Infected pupae had an average loss of 50% weight during metamorphosis to adults, 10% due to loss of fatty acids. 5. 5. Calculated on fresh weight basis, infected adult males had 31% less fatty acid calories than healthy adult males; infected females had 34% less than the healthy female. 6. 6. Infected males and females had 31 and 49% less glycogen, respectively, than healthy adults. 7. 7. During emergence of pupae to adults, approx 60 and 30 glycogen cal/insect were used by healthy and infected insects, respectively.