Sterol composition and phytosterol utilization and metabolism in the milkweed bug.

Analysis of the sterols of the milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas) and dietary sunflowerseeds revealed that there is little, if any, conversion of dietary C28 OR C29 phytosterols to cholesterol in this phytophagous insect. The dietary sterols are apparently utilized with little alteration both during development to the adult stage and egg production, and cholesterol comprises less than 1% of the sterols in either adult males and females or in the eggs. The significance of these findings are discussed in light of the recent discovery that the C28-ecdysone, makisterone A, is the predominant molting hormone inthe embryonated egg of the milkweed bug.