Subject: Rearing poisonous butterflies on other hosts?

From: [email-masked] (ou004378)
Date: 23 Apr 1996 07:10:29 GMT

I'm trying to locate studies in which normally toxic butterflies are
raised on non-toxic host plants. The only good example I've found so
far is Brower et al. (1967) [1], in which Danaus plexippus caterpillars
are raised on cabbages and consequently lose their toxicity. I would be
particularly interested to find examples where the plants on which eggs
are laid by an individual are dependent upon the type of plant on which
that individual developed (for example, if the caterpillars raised on
cabbages had preferred to lay their own eggs on cabbages); however, I
have not yet been able to find any papers with such results. Any
assistance in finding relevant references will be most appreciated.

[1] Brower, L.P.;Brower, J.V.Z.;, Corvino, J.M. (1967). Plant poisons
in a terrestrial food chain. _Proceedings of the National Academy of
Science_ v57, pp. 893-898

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Rob Knight     / [email-masked] /
[email-masked]
Biochemistry, University of Otago