Chemical defence of the warningly coloured caterpillars of Methona themisto (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Ithomiinae)

European Journal of Entomology

Volumn 106, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 253-259

  Massuda, Kamila F ^a   Trigo, José R ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CAMPINAS   (Brazil)

Author keywords

Aposematism; Brunfelsia uniflora; Camponotus crassus; Gallus gallus domesticus; Learning; Lycosa erythrognatha; Predation; Solanaceae; Unpalatability

Indexed keywords

ANTIPREDATOR DEFENSE; APOSEMATISM; BIOASSAY; BUTTERFLY; CATERPILLAR; CHEMICAL DEFENSE; COLOR MORPH; LEARNING; PREDATION; PREDATOR; SURVIVAL;

ARANEAE; BRUNFELSIA UNIFLORA; CAMPONOTUS CRASSUS; DANAINAE; FORMICIDAE; GALLUS GALLUS; LEPIDOPTERA; LYCOSA ERYTHROGNATHA; MAGNOLIOPHYTA; METHONA; METHONA THEMISTO; NYMPHALIDAE; SOLANACEAE;

EID: 69949139966     PISSN: 12105759     EISSN: 18028829     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.14411/eje.2009.033     Document Type: Article

References (54)

1. BEGOSSI A. & BENSON W.W. 1988: Host plants and defense mechanisms in Oedionychina (Alticinae). In Jolivet P., Petitpierre E. & Hsiao T.H. (eds): Biology of Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp. 57-71.
2. BEKKOUCHE K., DAALI Y., CHERKAOUI S., VEUTHEY J.L. & CHRISTEN P. 2001: Calystegine distribution in some solanaceous species. Phytochemistry 58: 455-462.
3. BOWERS M.D. 1993: Aposematic caterpillars: life-styles of the warningly colored and unpalatable. In Stamp N.E. & Casey T.M. (eds): Caterpillars. Ecological and Evolutionary Constraints on Foraging. Chapman & Hall, New York, pp. 331-371.
4. BROWER J.Z. 1958: Experimental studies of mimicry in some north american butterflies: Part I. The monarch, Danaus plexippus, and viceroy, Limenitis archippus archippus. Evolution 12: 32-47.
5. BROWER L.P. 1984: Chemical defense in butterflies. In Vane-Wright R.I. & Ackery P.R. (eds): The Biology of Butterflies. Academic Press, New York, pp. 109-134.
6. BROWN K.S. & FREITAS A.V.L. 1994: Juvenile stages of Ithomiinae: Overview and systematics (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Trop. Lepid. 5: 9-20.
7. BROWN K.S., TRIGO J.R., FRANCINI R.B., MORAIS A.B.B. & MOTTA P.C. 1991: Aposematic insects on tCxic host plants: coevolution, colonization, and chemical emancipation. In Price P.W., Lewinsohn T.M., Fernandes G.W. & Benson W.W. (eds): Plant-Animal Interactions. Evolutionary Ecology in Tropical and Temperate Regions. John Wiley, New York, pp. 375-402.
8. CARRELL J.E. 2001: Response of predaceous arthropods to chemically defended larvae of the pyralid moth Uresiphita reversalis (Guenee) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). J. Kans. Entomol. Soc. 74: 128-135.
9. DYER L.A. 1995a: Tasty generalists and nasty specialists? A comparative study of antipredator mechanisms in tropical lepidopteran larvae. Ecology 76: 1483-1496.
10. DYER L.A. 1995b: Effectiveness of caterpillar defenses against three species of invertebrate predators. J. Res. Lep. 34: 48-68.
11. DYER L.A. & BOWERS M.D. 1996: The importance of sequestered iridoid glycosides as a defense against an ant predator. J. Chem. Ecol. 22: 1527-1539.
12. DYER L.A. & FLOYD T. 1993: Determinants of predation on phytophagous insects. The importance of diet breadth. Oecologia 96: 575-582.
13. DYER L.A., DODSON C.D. & GENTRY G. 2003: A bioassay for insect deterrent compounds found in plant and animal tissues. Phytochem. Anal. 14: 381-388.
14. EISNER T. & EISNER M. 1991: Unpalatability of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid containing moth, Utetheisa ornatrix, and its larva, to wolf spiders. Psyche 98: 111-118.
15. FERRO V.G., GUIMARÃES P.R. & TRIGO J.R. 2006: Why do larvae of Utetheisa ornatrix penetrate and feed in pods of Crotalaria species? Larval performance vs. chemical and physical constraints. Entomol. Exp. Appl. 121: 23-29.
16. FRAMENAU V.W., FINLEY L.A., ALLAN K., LOVE M., SHIRLEY D. & ELGAR M.A. 2000: Multiple feeTing in wolf spiders: the effect of starvation on handling time, ingestion rate, and intercatch intervals in Lycosa lapidosa (Araneae: Lycosidae). Austr. J. Zool. 48: 59-65.
17. FREITAS A.V.L. & OLIVEIRA P.S. 1996: Ants as selective agents on herbivore biology: Effects on the behaviour of a non-myrmecophilous butterfly. J. Anim. Ecol. 65: 205-210.
18. FREITAS A.V.L. 1993: Biology and population dinamics of Placidula euryanassa, a relict ithomiine butterfly (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). J. Lepid. Soc. 47: 87-105.
19. FREITAS A.V.L., TRIGO J.R., BROWN K.S., WITTE L., HARTAMANN T. & BARATA L.E.S. 1996: Tropane and pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the ithomiines Placidula euryanassa and Miraleria cymothoe (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Chemoecology 7: 61-67.
20. GONZALES A., ROSSINI C., EISNER M. & EISNER T. 1999: Sexually transmitted chemical defense in a moth (Utheteisa ornatrix). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96: 5570-5574.
21. GUILFORD T. 1990: The evolution of aposematism. In Schmidt J.O. & Evans D.L. (eds): Insect Defenses: Adaptative Mechanisms and Strategies of Prey and Predators. State University of New York Press, New York, pp. 23-61.
22. GUIMARÃES P.R., RAIMUNDO R.L.G., BOTTCHER C., SILVA R.R. & TRIGO J.R. 2006: Extrafloral nectaries as a deterrent mechanism against seed predators in the chemically protected weed Crotalaria pallida (Leguminosae). Austral Ecol. 31: 776-782.
23. HARTMANN T., HÄGGSTRÖM H., THEURING C., LINDIGKEIT R. & RAHIER M. 2003: Detoxification of pyrrolizidine alkaloids by the harvestman Mitopus morio (Phalangidae) a predator of alkaloid defended leaf beetles. Chemoecology 13: 123-127.
24. HEINRICH B. 1993: How avian predators constrain caterpillar foraging. In Stamp N.E. & Casey T.M. (eds): Caterpillars. Ecological and Evolutionary Constraints on Foraging. Chapman & Hall, New York, pp. 224-247.
25. JÄRVI T., SILLÉN-TULLBERG B. & WIKLUND C. 1981: The cost of being aposematic. An experimental study of predation on larvae of Papilio machaon by the great tit Parus major. Oikos 36: 267-272.
26. KUSNEZOV N. 1951: El género Camponotus en la Argentina. Acta Zool. Lilloana 11: 183-255.
27. LAMAS G. 1973: Taxonomia e evoluçñao dos gêneros Ituna Doubleday (Danainae) e. Paititia gen. n., Thyridia Hübner e Methona Doubleday (Ithomiinae) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae). PhD Thesis, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
28. LLOYD H.A., FALES H.M., GOLDMAN M.E., JERINA D.M., PLOWMAN T. & SCHULTES R.E. 1985: Brunfelsamidine - a novel convulsant from de medicinal Brunfelsia grandiflora. Tetrahedron Lett. 26: 2623-2624.
29. MONTLLOR C.B. & BERNAYS E.A. 1993: Invertebrate preators and caterpillar foraging. In Stamp N.E. & Casey T.M. (eds): Caterpillars. Ecological and Evolutionary Constraints on Foraging. Chapman & Hall, New York, pp. 170-202.
30. MOORE B.P., BROWN W.V. & ROTHSCHILD M. 1990: Methylalkylpyrazines in aposematic insects, their hostplants and mimics. Chemoecology 1: 43-51.
31. MORS W.B. & RIBEIRO O. 1957: Occurrence of scopoletin in the genus Brunfelsia. J. Org. Chem. 22: 978-979.
32. MOTTA P.C. 1998: Estudos macro e microevolutivos nas borboletas Ithomiinae (Nymphalidae). PhD Thesis, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil.
33. NARDI C., GUERRA T.M., ORTH A.I. & TAVARES M.T. 2006: Himenópteros parasitóides associados a pupas de Methona themisto (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) em Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brasil. Iheringia 96: 373-375.
34. NISHIDA R. 2002: Sequestration of defensive substances from plants by Lepidoptera. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 47: 57-92.
35. NOGUEIRA-DE-SÁ F. & TRIGO J.R. 2002: Do fecal shields provide physical protection to larvae of the tortoise beetles Plagiometriona flavescens and Stolas chalybea against natural enemies? Entomol. Exp. Appl. 104: 203-206.
36. NOGUEIRA-DE-SÁ F. & TRIGO J.R. 2005: Faecal shield of the tortoise beetle Plagiometriona aff. flavescens (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) as chemically mediated defence against predators. J. Trop. Ecol. 21: 189-194.
37. PLOWMAN T. 1979: The genus Brunfelsia: a conspectus of the taxonomy and biogeography. In Hawkes J.G., Lester R.N. & Skelding A.D. (eds): The Biology and Taxonomy of the Solanaceae. 1st ed. Academic Press, London, pp. 475-491.
38. PORTUGAL A.H.A. 2001: Defesa química em larvas da borboleta Mechanitis polymnia (Nymphalidae: Ithomiinae). MSc Thesis. Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Campinas, Brazil.
39. PORTUGAL A.H.A. & TRIGO J.R. 2005: Similarity of cuticular lipids between a caterpillar and its host plant: A way to make prey undetectable for predatory ants? J. Chem. Ecol. 31: 2551-2561.
40. RITLAND D.B. 1991: Palatability of aposematic queen butterflies (Danaus gilippus) feeding on Sarcostemma clausum (Asclepiadaceae) in Florida. J. Chem. Ecol. 17: 1593-1610.
41. RUSZCZYK A. & NASCIMENTO E.S. 1999: Biologia dos adultos de Methona themisto (Hübner, 1818) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Ithomiinae) em praças públicas de Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Rev. Bras. Biol. 59: 577-583.
42. RUXTON G.C., SHERRATT T. & SPEED M.P. 2004: Avoiding Attack. The Evolutionary Ecology of Crypsis, Warning Signals and Mimicry. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 249 pp.
43. SCHULTES R.E. 1976: Solanaceous hallucinogens and their role in the development of New World cultures. In Hawkes J.G., Lester R.N. & Skelding A.D. (eds): The Biology and Taxonomy of the Solanaceae. 1st ed. Academic Press, London, pp. 137-160.
44. SMILEY J.T. 1985: Heliconius caterpillars mortality during establishment on plants with and without attending ants. Ecology 67: 516-521.
45. STAMP N.E. & WILKENS R. 1993: On the cryptic side of life: being unapparent to enemies and the consequences for foraging and growth of caterpillars. In Stamp N.E. & Casey T.M. (eds): Caterpillars. Ecological and Evolutionary Constraints on Foraging. Chapman & Hall, New York, pp. 283-330.
46. TRIGO J.R. 2000: The chemistry of antipredator defense by secondary compounds in neotropical Lepidoptera: Facts, perspectives and caveats. J. Braz. Chem. Soc. 11: 551-561.
47. TRIGO J.R. 2008: Chemical ecology of ithomiine butterflies. In Epifano F. (ed.): Current Trends in Phytochemistry. Research Signpost, Kerala, India, pp. 141-165.
48. TRIGO J.R. & BROWN K.S. 1990: Variation of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Ithomiinae: A comparative study between species feeding on Apocynaceae and Solanaceae. Chemoecology 1: 22-29.
49. TRIGO J.R., BROWN K.S., WITTE L., HARTAMNN T., ERNST L. & BARATA L.E.S. 1996: Pyrrolizidine alkaloids: Different acquisition and use patterns in Apocynaceae and Solanaceae feeding ithomiine butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 58: 99-123.
50. WESELOH R.M. 1993: Potential effects of parasitoids on the evolution of caterpillar foraging behavior. In Stamp N.E. & Casey T.M. (eds): Caterpillars. Ecological and Evolutionary Constraints on Foraging. Chapman & Hall, New York, pp. 203-223.
51. WIKLUND C. & JÄRVI T. 1982: Survival of distasteful insects after being attacked by naive birds - a reparisal of the theory of aposematic coloration evolving through individual selection. Evolution 36: 998-1022.
52. WILLMOTT K.R. & FREITAS A.V.L. 2006: Higher-level phylogeny of the IthoCiinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae): classification, patterns of larval hostplant colonization and diversification. Cladistics 22: 297-368.
53. YOSEF R., CARREL J.E. & EISNER T. 1996: Contrasting reactions of loggerhead shrikes to two types of chemically defended insect prey. J. Chem. Ecol. 22: 173-181.
54. ZAR J.H. 1999: Biostatistical Analysis. 4th ed. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 663 pp.