Chemical aspects of host-plant specificity in threeLarrea-feeding grasshoppers.

The host-selection behavior of three species of grasshopper feeding on creosote bush,Larrea tridentata, in southern California was investigated. The species wereBootettix argentatus, which is monophagous;Ligurotettix coquilletti, oligophagous; andCibolacris parviceps, polyphagous. The monophagous species is stimulated to bite by nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), a compound that is characteristic of the host plant and that may comprise up to 10% of the dry weight of the leaf. Host specificity ofB. argentatus is enhanced by deterrent responses to compounds present in the surface waxes of all non-host-plant species. Both the oligophagous and polyphagous species are deterred by NDGA at naturally occurring concentrations. Their association withLarrea is probably based on tolerance of the plant chemicals rather than on dependence on specific chemicals. Factors other than the chemistry of the plant probably also contribute to the specificity ofB. argentatus andL. coquilletti.