Chlorophyll catabolites in the frass of the Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars (Aglais urticae L.)

Abstract

Herbivorous insects excrete most of the consumed chlorophyll as partly degraded derivatives lacking the phytol side chain and the central magnesium ion. To study common degradation patterns of chlorophyll in plant-feeding insects, the frass of the Lepidopteran caterpillar, Aglais urticae was analysed for chlorophyll catabolites. The major metabolites were determined as pheohorbide a and pyropheophorbide a by using LC-MS, LC-SPE-NMR and UV. These compounds are not present in fresh leaves of the food plants (Urtica dioica). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5564/mjc.v14i0.198 Mongolian Journal of Chemistry 14 (40), 2013, p46-50