Adults of several species of cucumber beetles compulsively eat bitter triterpene cucurbitacins, but it is unknown if their larvae exhibit the same behavior. The affinity of spotted cucumber beetle larvae to cucurbitacins was tested by performing feeding choice experiments using bitter (Cucurbita andreanaNaudin) and nonbitter (C. palmeriBailey) root cuttings and nonbitter roots ofCucumis sativasL. coated exogenously with cucurbitacin B. Within a 24-h period, larvae ate significantly more of the bitter than the nonbitter roots in both experiments.