Summary
Larvae ofNyctemera annulata Boisduval ingest pyrrolizidine alkaloids fromSenecio spathulatus A. Rich. which subsequently appear in the adult months and their eggs; the acquisition of the alkaloids by a parasite of theN. annulata larvae provides a further illustration of their ability to persist in insects.
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References
L.B. Bull, C.C.J. Culvenor and A.T. Dick, The Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids: Their Chemistry, Pathogenicity, and Other Biological Properties. Notth Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam 1968.
R.T. Aplin, M.H. Benn and M. Rothschild, Nature, Lond.219, 747 (1968).
M. Rothschild and R.T. Aplin, in: Pesticide Chemistry, vol. 3, p. 177. Ed. A. Tahori. Gordon and Breach, New York 1971.
R.T. Aplin and M. Rothschild, in: Toxins of Animal and Plant Origin, vol. 2, p. 579. Ed. A. de Vries and E. Kochva. Gordon and Breach, New York 1972.
J.A. Edgar and C.C.J. Culvenor, Nature, Lond.248, 614 (1974).
J.A. Edgar, P.A. Cockrum and J.L. Frahn, Experientia32, 1535 (1976).
T. Reichstein, J. von Parsons and M. Rothschild, Science161, 861 (1968).
L.P. Brower, Scient. Am.220, 22 (1969).
D.E. Gaskins, The Butterflies and Common Moths of New Zealand. Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd, Christchurch 1966. The only bird recorded as feeding onN. annulata larvae is the shining cuckooChalcites lucidus Gmelin, see W.W. Smith, N.Z. J. Sci. Technol.6, 61 (1923), and references therein. We thank Dr Ross Galbreath, Entomology Division, DSIR, for drawing our attention to this interesting anomoly.
We are grateful to Miss Eileen Mayo of Christchurch, who designed the stamp, for the identification of this plant. We also thank Mr A.R. Anderson of the New Zealand Post Office H.Q., Wellington, for the information that some 419 million copies of this stamp were distributed, plus several million more surcharged to 4c: thus making the figure probably the most widely circulated illustration of an aposematically coloured insect with a host-plant likely responsible for its chemical defence against predators.
D.G. Drury, N.Z. J. Bot.12, 513 (1974).
Our plant identifications were confirmed by Mr Alan Esler and Ms Shirley Bowman, Botany Division, DSIR, Auckland.
The carry over of cardenolides into arthropod eggs is wellestablished: see for example Reichstein et al.10 and J. von Euw, T. Reichstein and M. Rothschild, Insect Biochem.1, 373 (1971).
Identified by E. Valentine, Entomology Division, DSIR; see also E. Valentine, N. Z. J. Sci.10, 1100 (1967).
The similar transfer of carotenoid plant pigments to parasitoids has occasionally been reported: see, M. Rothschild, G. Valadon and R. Mummery, J. Zool.181, 323 (1977), and references therein.
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Acknowledgments. We thank Dr R. Yamdagni of the Chemistry Department, University of Calgary, Canada, and Dr O. Madsen of the Organic Chemistry Department, The Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark, for much help with the MS data collection. We are also very grateful to Dr C.C.J. Culvenor, CSIRO Animal Health Lab., Parkville, Victoria, Australia, who most generously provided us with authentic reference specimens of pyrrolizidine alkaloids.
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Benn, M., DeGrave, J., Gnanasunderam, C. et al. Host-plant pyrrolizidine alkaloids inNyctemera annulata Boisduval: Their persistence through the life-cycle and transfer to a parasite. Experientia 35, 731–732 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01968208
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01968208