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Prediction of host plant range and ecological impact of exotic phytophagous insects, such as insects for classical biological control of weeds, represents a major challenge. Recently, the flowerhead weevil (Rhinocyllus conicus Fröl.), introduced from Europe into North America to control exotic thistles (Carduus spp.), has become invasive. It feeds heavily on some, but not all species of native North American thistles (Cirsium spp.). We hypothesized that such non-target use among native plants could be better predicted by knowledge of characteristic chemical profiles of secondary compounds to supplement the results of host specificity testing. To evaluate this hypothesis, we reviewed the literature on the chemistry of Cirsium and Carduus thistles. We asked what compounds are known to be present, what is known about their biological activity, and whether such information on chemical profiles would have better …