Host relationships of coffee shot hole borer, Xylosandrus compactus Eichhoff, (Xyloborus morstatti Hgdn.) I. Free and protein amino acids of the borer stage and the larval food

Abstract

Free and protein amino acids were analyzed from eggs, larvae, pupae and adult females of the coffee borer, Xylosandrus compactus Eichhoff (Xyleborus morstatti Hgdn) using two-dimensional paper chromatography. Likewise, larval food, which primarily includes the ambrosia fungus (Moniliales), was analyzed. Seventeen amino acids and one unidentified spot were found in the egg in its free state. It was found that the arrangement of amino acids in the first, second and third larval stages was qualitatively the same in both the free and bi-drolyzed states. The third larval stage showed an increase in the contents of glutamic acid, aspartic acid, histidine and alanine. Many of the spots were reduced to traces in the prepupa and were absent in the pupa. Glutamine was present in protein extracts from the egg, larvae, pre-pupa, pupa, and adult. Considerable deposits of bumin were noted during acid hydrolysis of larvae and adults.

The amino acid composition of the larvae and their food was compared. Tryptophan, bistidine, and cystine were not found in the latter, although these were present in the larvae. The most prominent amino acids in the larval food were glutamic acid, aspartic acid, tyrosine, glycine, and leucine. Heavy deposits of bumin were observed during acid hydrolysis.