Stickiness Potential of Individual Insect Honeydew Carbohydrates on Cotton Lint

Abstract

Stickiness of cotton fiber is usually caused by honeydew deposits from phloem- feeding insects, including whiteflies and aphids. This work was conducted to determine if the specific sugars commonly found in insect honeydews have different stickiness properties when applied to cotton lint. Standard sugar solutions were applied to non sticky cotton lint using a chromatography sprayer and assessed for stickiness using a minicard. The results indicate significant variation in natural stickiness within the sugars commonly found in insect honeydews. Trehalulose, a major component of sweet potato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) honeydew, was very sticky, as were turanose, palatinose, and sucrose. Melezitose, raffinose, glucose, and fructose were relatively nonsticky. Oligosaccharide stickiness was not directly related to the oligomer chain length, at least up to DP 3. These results suggest efforts to exploit biological methods to ameliorate honeydew-affected lint should focus on sugar components known to be sticky.