Abstract
Queen butterflies (Danaus gilippus) are generally considered unpalatable to predators because they sequester and store toxic cardenolides from their larval food plants. However, a major queen food plant in Florida, the asclepiadaceous vineSarcostemma clausum, is shown here to be a very poor cardenolide source, and queens reared on this plant contain no detectable cardenolide. A direct evaluation of queen palatability using red-winged blackbirds indicates thatS. clausum-reared butterflies are essentially palatable to these predators (85% of abdomens entirely eaten), indicating little protection from either cardenolides, other sequestered phytochemicals, or de novo defensive compounds. Wild-caught queens that presumably fed as larvae uponS. clausum and also had access to adult-obtained chemicals, such as pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), were relatively palatable as well (77% of abdomens eaten); they did not differ significantly in palatability from the labreared butterflies. Together, these findings suggest that; (1)S. clausumfed queens are poorly defended against some avian predators, and (2) for the particular queen sample examined, PAs do not contribute substantially to unpalatability. The discovery thatS. clausum-feeding queens are essentially palatable is of additional significance because it compels a reassessment of the classic mimicry relationship between queen and viceroy butterflies. Viceroys have been shown recently to be moderately unpalatable; therefore, the established roles of model and mimic may be reversed in some cases.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abisch, E., andReichstein, T. 1962. Orientierende chemische Untersuchung einiger Asclepiadaceen und Periplocaceen.Helv. Chim. Acta 45:2090–2116.
Ackery, P.R., andVane-Wright, R.I. 1984. Milkweed Butterflies: Their Cladistics and Biology. Cornell University Press for the British Museum (Natural History), Ithaca, New York.
Boppré, M. 1984. Chemically mediated interactions between butterflies, pp. 259–275,in R.I. Vane-Wright and P.R. Ackery (eds.). The Biology of Butterflies. Academic Press, London.
Bowers, M.D. 1980. Unpalatability as a defense strategy ofEuphydryas phaeton (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).Evolution 34:586–600.
Bowers, M.D. 1981. Unpalatability as a defense strategy of western checkerspot butterflies (Euphydryas Scudder, Nymphalidae).Evolution 35:367–375.
Brower, J.V.Z. 1958a. Experimental studies of mimicry in some North American butterflies. I. The Monarch,Danaus plexippus and Viceroy,Limenitis archippus.Evolution 12:32–47.
Brower, J.V.Z. 1958b. Experimental studies of mimicry in some North American butterflies. III.Danaus gilippus berenice andLimenitis archippus floridensis.Evolution 12:273–285.
Brower, L.P. 1969. Ecological chemistry.Sci. Am. 220:22–29.
Brower, L.P. 1984. Chemical defence in butterflies, pp. 109–134,in R.I. Vane-Wright and P.R. Ackery (eds.). The Biology of Butterflies. Academic Press, London.
Brower, L.P., Brower, J.V.Z., andCranston, F.P. 1965. Courtship behaviour of the queen butterfly,Danaus gilippus berenice (Cramer).Zoologica 50:1–39.
Brower, L.P., Brower, J.V.Z., andCorvino, J.M. 1967. Plant poisons in a terrestrial food chain.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 57:892–898.
Brower, L.P., Ryerson, W.N., Coppinger, L.L., andGlazier, S.C. 1968. Ecological chemistry and the palatability spectrum.Science 161:1349–1351.
Brower, L.P., McEvoy, P.B., Williamson, K.L., andFlannery, M.A. 1972. Variation in cardiac glycoside content of monarch butterflies from natural populations in eastern North America.Science 177:426–429.
Brower, L.P., Edmunds, M., andMoffitt, C.M. 1975. Cardenolide content and palatability of a population ofDanaus chrysippus butterflies from West Africa.J. Entomol. (A) 49:183–196.
Brown, F.M. andHeineman, B. 1972. Jamaica and its Butterflies. E.W. Classey, Ltd., London.
Brown, K.S. 1984. Adult-obtained pyrrolizidine alkaloids defend ithomiine butterflies against a spider predator.Nature 309:707–709.
Bull, L.B., Culvenor, C.C.J., andDick, A.T. 1968. The Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids. North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam.
Chermock, R.L. 1947. A new subspecies ofLimenitis archippus (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae).Am. Mus. Novit. 1365:1–2.
Cohen, J.A. 1983. Chemical interaction among milkweed plants (Asclepiadaceae) and lepidopteran herbivores. PhD dissertation. University of Florida, Gainesville.
Cohen, J.A. 1985. Differences and similarities in cardenolide content of queen and monarch butterflies in Florida and their ecological and evolutionary implications.J. Chem. Ecol. 11:85–103.
Conner, W.E., Eisner, T., Van der Meer, R.K., Guerrero, A., andMeinwald, J. 1981. Precopulatory sexual interaction in an arctiid moth (Utetheisa ornatrix): Role of a pheromone derived from dietary alkaloids.Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 9:227–235.
Coppinger, R.P. 1970. The effect of experience and novelty on avian feeding behavior with reference to the evolution of warning coloration in butterflies. II. Reactions of naive birds to novel insects.Am. Nat. 104:323–335.
Edgar, J.A., Boppré, M., andSchneider, D. 1979. Pyrrolizidine alkaloid storage in African and Australian danaid butterflies.Experientia 35:1447–1448.
Eisner, T. 1980. Chemistry, defence and survival: case studies and selected topics, pp. 847–878,in M. Locke and D.S. Smith (eds.). Insect Biology in the Future. Academic Press, New York.
Glendinning, J.I.,Brower, L.P., andMontgomery, C.A. 1990. Taste and toxic responses of three mice species to cardiac glycosides and pyrrolizidine alkaloids.Chemoecology. In press.
Hegnauer, R. 1964.Chemotaxonomie der Pflanzen. Band 3. Birkhauser e Verlag, Basel.
Holm, R.W. 1950. The American species ofSarcostemma R. Br. (Asclepiadaceae).Ann. Mo. Bot. Garden 37:477–560.
Malcolm, S.B. 1990. Mimicry: Status of a classic evolutionary paradigm.Trends Ecot. Evol. 5:57–62.
Malcolm, S.B., Cockrell, B.J., andBrower, L.P. 1989. Cardenolide fingerprint of monarch butterflies reared on common milkweed,Asclepias syriaca L.J. Chem. Ecol. 15:819–853.
Malcolm, S.B.,Cockrell, B.J., andBrower, L.P. 1991. Spring migration of the monarch butterfly: cardenolide content and wing wear as labels of successive brood migration,in S.B. Malcolm and M.P. Zalucki (eds.). Biology and Conservation of the Monarch Butterfly. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. In press.
Masters, A.R. 1990. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in artificial nectar protect adult ithomiine butterflies from a spider predator.Biotropica 22:298–304.
Nelson, C.J., Seiber, J.N., andBrower, L.P. 1981. Seasonal and intraplant variation of cardenolide content in the California milkweed.Asclepias eriocarpa, and implications for plant defense.J. Chem. Ecol. 7:981–1009.
Nishio, S. 1980. The fates and adaptive significance of cardenolides sequestered by larvae ofDanaus plexippus (L.) andCycnia inopinatus (Hy. Edwards). PhD dissertation. University of Georgia, Athens.
Opler, P.A., andKrizek, G.O. 1984. Butterflies East of the Great Plains. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Parsons, J.A. 1965. A digitalis-like toxin in the monarch butterfly,Danaus plexippus.J. Physiol. 178:290–304.
Pliske, T.E. 1975. Attraction of Lepidoptera to plants containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids.Environ. Entom. 4:455–473.
Pliske, T.E., andEisner, T. 1969. Sex pheromone of the queen butterfly: biology.Science 164:1170–1172.
Reichstein, T., Euw, J. Von, Parsons, J.A., andRothschild, M. 1968. Heart poisons in the monarch butterfly.Science 161:861–866.
Ritland, D.B. 1991a. Revising a classic butterfly mimicry scenario: Demonstration of Müllerian mimicry between Florida viceroys (Limenitis archippus floridensis) and queens (Danaus gilippus berenice).Evolution. In press.
Ritland, D.B. 1991b. Unpalatability of the viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) and its purported mimicry model, the Florida queen (Danaus gilippus).Oecologia. In press.
Ritland, D.B. 1991c. Reassessment of viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) mimicry and an analysis of the ecological dynamics of mimicry. PhD dissertation. University of Florida, Gainesville.
Ritland, D.B., andBrower, L.P. 1991. The viceroy butterfly is not a Batesian mimic.Nature 350:497–498.
Roeske, C.N., Seiber, J.N., Brower, L.P., andMoffitt, C.M. 1976. Milkweed cardenolides and their comparative processing by monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus (L.)).Recent Adv. Phytochem. 10:93–167.
Rosatti, T.J. 1989. The genera of suborder Apocynineae (Apocynaceae and Asclepiadaceae) in the southeastern United States.J. Arnold Arbor. 70:443–514.
Rothschild, M. 1972. Secondary plant substances and warning colouration in insects, pp. 59–83,in H.F. van Emden (ed.). Insect/Plant Relationships. Blackwell Scientific Publishers, Oxford, U.K.
Rothschild, M., andMarsh, N.A. 1978. Some peculiar aspects of danaid/plant relationships.Entomol. Exp. Appl. 24:437–450.
Rothschild, M., Euw, J. Von, Reichstein, T., Smith, D.A.S., andPierre, J. 1975. Cardenolide storage inDanaus chrysippus with additional notes onD. plexippus.Proc. R. Soc. (B) 190:1–31.
Schlee, M.A. 1986. Avian predation on Heteroptera: experiments on the European blackbirdTurdus m. merula L.Ethology 73:1–18.
Scudder, S.H. 1870. Is mimicry advantageous?Nature 3:147.
Wratten, S.D., Edwards, P.J., andWinder, L. 1988. Insect herbivory in relation to dynamic changes in host plant quality.Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 35:339–350.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ritland, D.B. Palatability of aposematic queen butterflies (Danaus gilippus) feeding onSarcostemma clausum (Asclepiadaceae) in Florida. J Chem Ecol 17, 1593–1610 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00984691
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00984691