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Guanine in the Excreta of the Boll Weevil

Nature volume 203, pages 1403–1404 (1964)Cite this article

Abstract

THE common purine found in insect excreta is uric acid. Reports of other purines in Coleoptera are rare. Xanthine and hypoxanthine have been reported in Lepidoptera1,2 and hypoxanthine in Diptera3. Ordinarily guanine would be expected to deaminate oxidatively to xanthine and undergo further oxidation to uric acid. Although we have found uric acid to be the principal nitrogenous excretory product (24 per cent of fæcal nitrogen) in the boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis Boheman, we have also located and identified the compound guanine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Entomology Research Division, U.S. Agricultural Research Service, State College, Mississippi

    NORMAN MITLIN & D. H. VICKERS

Authors
  1. NORMAN MITLIN
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  2. D. H. VICKERS
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MITLIN, N., VICKERS, D. Guanine in the Excreta of the Boll Weevil. Nature 203, 1403–1404 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/2031403a0

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