Natural Pest Resistance of Prunus Taxa to Feeding by Adult Japanese Beetles: Role of Endogenous Allelochemicals in Host Plant Resistance

Abstract

Feeding intensity of adult Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica Newm.) was compared among 27 taxa of Prunus host plants during 24-hour no-choice feeding trials conducted on individual leaves. Fecal dry mass per beetle, a measure of feeding intensity, varied from 0 mg·d-1 for Prunus padus L. to 20.4 mg·d-1 for P. sargentii Rehd. and P. tomentosa Thunb. Prunus padus, P. laurocerasus L., P. mahaleb L., P. serotina Ehrh., P. virginiana L., P. americana Marsh., P. ×yedoensis Matsum., and P. besseyi Bailey were resistant based on feeding intensities of <4.3 mg·d-1 (levels not significantly different from zero). Feeding intensity decreased exponentially as endogenous foliar cyanide potential increased. Evaluation of the cyanogenic glucoside prunasin in artificial diets showed a similar relationship with feeding being reduced by 50% (ED50) at 4.9 mmol·kg-1 in the diet. Prunus mahaleb was highly resistant to Japanese beetles despite having low cyanide potential. Two coumarin compounds known to exist in P. mahaleb, herniarin and coumarin, were tested in artificial diets and were effective feeding deterrents with ED50 values of 5.9 and 2.5 mmol·kg-1 in the diet, respectively. This research demonstrated a wide range of host plant resistance to feeding by adult Japanese beetles and further indicates that prunasin, herniarin, and coumarin are important factors in host plant resistance to this pest.