Mechanisms and consequences of selective oviposition by the zebra swallowtail butterfly. Facilitative interactions between two lepidopteran herbivores of Asimina. Cornell University, Ethaca, New York.ĭamman, H. Effects of seasonal changes in leaf quality and abundance of natural enemies on the insect herbivores of pawpaws. Effects of plant age, genotype and herbivory on Plantago performance and chemistry. Clonal and leaf age variation in Populus phenolic glycosides: Implications for host selection by Chrysomela scripta Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). The relationships between host selection and subsequent larval performance in three free-living graminivorous sawflies.

An ultraviolet absorbing pigment causes a narrow-band violet receptor and a single-peaked green receptor in the eye of the butterfly Papilio. W., Kinoshita, M., Seki, T., Kitamoto, J., and Stavenga, D. Genetic variation in defensive chemistry in Plantago lanceolata (Plantaginaceae) and its effect on the specialist herbivore Junonia coenia Nymphalidae). This behavior may have evolved to take advantage of seasonal variation in the chemistry of their host, A. Thus, the results suggest that the butterflies use both qualitative and quantitative information about these compounds to assess host quality. At lower concentrations of 1, the addition of low doses of flavonoids deterred egg laying. Higher amounts of flavonoids deterred egg laying even in the presence of high concentrations of stimulant 1. There was a gradual decrease in approaches as the concentration of 1 decreased. Multiple-choice tests using model plants suggested that concentrations of both flavonoids and stimulant were important in assessing host suitability. The flavonoids ( 3 and 4), however, were significantly higher in the leaves that were ignored. Analyses showed that the concentrations of compound 1 were not significantly different in the three kinds of leaves. triloba plants, the butterflies chose some leaves to lay eggs, while others were rejected or ignored. September extracts received significantly fewer approaches and eggs. In a choice assay with model leaves, we tested equivalent amounts of post-dichloromethane aqueous extracts made in spring (May) and in fall (September). There were also significant differences in the concentrations of these compounds between TLs and ELs. As the season progressed, however, the concentrations of flavonoids increased, reached maxima by late summer, and then decreased as the plants started senescing. In spring, the concentration of 1 was highest in TLs, and flavonoids were not detectable or present at low levels. We compared the concentrations of compounds 1– 4 in terminal leaves (TL) and expanded leaves (EL) of the host plants at four different times throughout the growing season. Analysis of the aqueous extracts of the leaves of the host, Asimina triloba, showed that they contained stimulant 1, its isomer ( 2), and the flavonoids rutin ( 3) and nicotiflorine ( 4) as major components. Zebra swallowtail ( Eurytides marcellus) butterflies are stimulated to oviposit by a single compound, 3-caffeoyl- muco-quinic acid ( 1).

Host trees for zebra swallowtail