Antifeeding and protease- and amylase-inhibiting activity of fentin acetate in Spodoptera littoralis larvae

Fentin acetate (FA) at effective antifeedant concentrations does not have a high, immediate toxicity for 170–190 mg larvae of the Egyptian cotton leafworm (Spodoptera littoralis); the mortality of such larvae exposed to FA residues on leaves is not appreciably higher than that of larvae being starved. The antifeedant effect of FA is also not due to an influence on sensory receptors on the mouth parts. Protease and amylase are inhibited in vivo in larvae feeding on FA-treated leaves; the enzyme inhibition increases with the concentrations of the leaf-dipping suspensions. At 0.05% FA, protease and amylase activity was only about 20 and 30%, respectively, of that of the control larvae and was lower than in starved larvae.Antifeeding and enzymatic inhibition are also obtained by injecting FA into the haemocoel, results which indicate that FA does not inhibit the digestive enzymes directly, but seems to affect the enzyme production in the gut. This interpretation is strengthened by the finding that the addition of massive amounts of FA to the enzyme reaction mixture does not affect the enzyme activity.