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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Charleston, South Carolina » Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #94438
Title: OVIPOSITIONAL RESPONSE OF TOBACCO HORNWORM MOTHS TO TOBACCO PLANTS GROWN UNDER ELEVATED LEVELS OF OZONE

Author
item Jackson, D
item Heagle, Allen
item ECKEL, R V W - RVWE CONSULTING

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/23/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Tobacco plants were exposed to four concentrations of ozone in open-top chambers. The ozone treatments were charcoal-filtered air, nonfiltered air, and nonfiltered air with ozone added to obtain approximately 1.4 times ambient and 1.7 times ambient levels of ozone. After plants had been exposed to ozone for at least five days, eggs from tobacco hornworm moths were counted and removed daily from the plants. Moths deposited more eggs on plants grown in the highest ozone treatment. However, when plants were removed from the chambers, or when the ozone was turned off in the chambers, there were no differences in egg laying preferences of hornworm moths. Changes in plant morphology or leaf-surface chemistry could not account for these differences. We conclude that moths were probably affected by transient changes in the plant chemistry manifested only by ozone treatments.

Technical Abstract: Tobacco plants, Nicotiana tabacum L., were exposed to four concentrations of ozone in open-top chambers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Air Quality Research Unit at Raleigh, N.C. The ozone treatments were charcoal-filtered air, nonfiltered air, and nonfiltered air with ozone added for 12 hours per day to obtain proportions of ozone approximately 1.4 times ambient and 1.7 times ambient. After plants had been exposed to ozone for at least five days, eggs from tobacco hornworm moths, Manduca sexta L., were counted and removed daily from the plants. Moths oviposited significantly more eggs on plants grown in the highest ozone treatment. However, when plants were removed from the chambers, or when the ozone was turned off in the chambers, there were no differences in ovipositional preferences of hornworm moths. Changes in plant morphology or leaf-surface chemistry could not account for higher oviposition rates by hornworm moths on plants grown in chambers with enhanced ozone. We conclude that moths were probably affected by transient changes in the plant chemistry manifested only by ozone treatments.