Maxillary appendages used by western corn rootworms, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera , to discriminate between a phagostimulant and ‐deterrent

Ablation of maxillary appendages on western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), were used to determine which mouthparts were involved in discrimination between the phagostimulant, cucurbitacin B, and the phagodeterrent, strychnine. Strychnine deterred feeding in unablated beetles when its concentration on disks was equal to or higher than cucurbitacin B. Unilateral or bilateral lacinea ablation did not affect discrimination between cucurbitacin B and strychnine. Galeal ablations abolished strychnine deterrence at equimolar concentrations of both compounds but not at higher strychnine concentrations, whereas maxillary palp ablation had no effect. However, bilateral ablation of both galea and maxillary palps resulted in a loss of deterrence at all strychnine concentrations. These results indicated strychnine sensitive chemoreceptors were primarily located on the galeae and maxillary palps. However, beetles without galeae and palps still feed on disks suggesting that cucurbitacin B sensitive chemoreceptors were located on other mouthparts and contributed to cucurbitacin B phagostimulation.