Not all toxic butterflies are toxic: high intra- and interspecific variation in sequestration in subtropical swallowtails
Many herbivorous insects make use of plant secondary metabolites by consuming and storing these toxic compounds in their body tissue or integument, thereby obtaining chemical defense against their natural enemies. Swallowtail butterflies in the tribe Troidini (Papilionidae) sequester toxic alkaloi...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
2018
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2247 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.2025 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2025 |
| _version_ | 1855034929594761216 |
|---|---|
| author | Dimarco, Romina Daniela Fordyce, James A. |
| author_browse | Dimarco, Romina Daniela Fordyce, James A. |
| author_facet | Dimarco, Romina Daniela Fordyce, James A. |
| author_sort | Dimarco, Romina Daniela |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | Many herbivorous insects make use of plant secondary metabolites by consuming and storing
these toxic compounds in their body tissue or integument, thereby obtaining chemical defense against their
natural enemies. Swallowtail butterflies in the tribe Troidini (Papilionidae) sequester toxic alkaloids (aristolochic
acids, AAs) from their host plants in the genus Aristolochia. Troidine butterflies have been a model
group for development of theory on host plant chemical sequestration, but most studies on this group have
been limited to a single species in North America. These studies have led, in part, to the paradigm that troidine
butterflies are toxic, thereby explaining the numerous mimicry relationships that exist throughout
most of their range. Herein, we present one of the first comparative studies in a single location of a community
of troidine butterflies. We examined the AA content of five co-occurring troidine butterfly species and
their two Aristolochia host plants. We found that one Aristolochia species, A. triangularis, was preferred in
choice assays and did not possess quantifiable levels of AA. We also found that most troidine butterflies
did not possess quantifiable levels of AAs, but larvae have the ability to sequester AAs when it is present
in their diet. A larval preference experiment showed that host plant AA concentration did not influence larval
feeding choice. A performance experiment showed that higher levels of AAs in the diet increased larval
mortality, which might indicate a cost associated with sequestration of the chemical defense and also might
shed some light on why so many troidine butterflies in this community have little or no AAs. We propose
that automimicry might be operating in this system and many putative models of this paradigmatic system
might not possess plant-derived defensive chemistry. |
| format | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA2247 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateRange | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA22472019-03-20T17:30:46Z Not all toxic butterflies are toxic: high intra- and interspecific variation in sequestration in subtropical swallowtails Dimarco, Romina Daniela Fordyce, James A. Papilionidae Toxicidad Sustancias Tóxicas Aristolochia Relaciones Planta Animal Alcaloides Alkaloids Plant Animal Relations Toxic Substances Toxicity Mariposas Troidine Butterflies Many herbivorous insects make use of plant secondary metabolites by consuming and storing these toxic compounds in their body tissue or integument, thereby obtaining chemical defense against their natural enemies. Swallowtail butterflies in the tribe Troidini (Papilionidae) sequester toxic alkaloids (aristolochic acids, AAs) from their host plants in the genus Aristolochia. Troidine butterflies have been a model group for development of theory on host plant chemical sequestration, but most studies on this group have been limited to a single species in North America. These studies have led, in part, to the paradigm that troidine butterflies are toxic, thereby explaining the numerous mimicry relationships that exist throughout most of their range. Herein, we present one of the first comparative studies in a single location of a community of troidine butterflies. We examined the AA content of five co-occurring troidine butterfly species and their two Aristolochia host plants. We found that one Aristolochia species, A. triangularis, was preferred in choice assays and did not possess quantifiable levels of AA. We also found that most troidine butterflies did not possess quantifiable levels of AAs, but larvae have the ability to sequester AAs when it is present in their diet. A larval preference experiment showed that host plant AA concentration did not influence larval feeding choice. A performance experiment showed that higher levels of AAs in the diet increased larval mortality, which might indicate a cost associated with sequestration of the chemical defense and also might shed some light on why so many troidine butterflies in this community have little or no AAs. We propose that automimicry might be operating in this system and many putative models of this paradigmatic system might not possess plant-derived defensive chemistry. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche Fil: Dimarco, Romina Daniela, Maite. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Grupo de Ecología de Poblaciones de Insectos; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. University of Tennessee. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Estados Unidos Fil: Fordyce, James A. University of Tennessee. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Estados Unidos 2018-04-13T17:14:07Z 2018-04-13T17:14:07Z 2017-12 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2247 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.2025 2150-8925 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2025 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Ecosphere 8 (12) : e02025. ((December 2017) |
| spellingShingle | Papilionidae Toxicidad Sustancias Tóxicas Aristolochia Relaciones Planta Animal Alcaloides Alkaloids Plant Animal Relations Toxic Substances Toxicity Mariposas Troidine Butterflies Dimarco, Romina Daniela Fordyce, James A. Not all toxic butterflies are toxic: high intra- and interspecific variation in sequestration in subtropical swallowtails |
| title | Not all toxic butterflies are toxic: high intra- and interspecific variation in sequestration in subtropical swallowtails |
| title_full | Not all toxic butterflies are toxic: high intra- and interspecific variation in sequestration in subtropical swallowtails |
| title_fullStr | Not all toxic butterflies are toxic: high intra- and interspecific variation in sequestration in subtropical swallowtails |
| title_full_unstemmed | Not all toxic butterflies are toxic: high intra- and interspecific variation in sequestration in subtropical swallowtails |
| title_short | Not all toxic butterflies are toxic: high intra- and interspecific variation in sequestration in subtropical swallowtails |
| title_sort | not all toxic butterflies are toxic high intra and interspecific variation in sequestration in subtropical swallowtails |
| topic | Papilionidae Toxicidad Sustancias Tóxicas Aristolochia Relaciones Planta Animal Alcaloides Alkaloids Plant Animal Relations Toxic Substances Toxicity Mariposas Troidine Butterflies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2247 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.2025 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2025 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dimarcorominadaniela notalltoxicbutterfliesaretoxichighintraandinterspecificvariationinsequestrationinsubtropicalswallowtails AT fordycejamesa notalltoxicbutterfliesaretoxichighintraandinterspecificvariationinsequestrationinsubtropicalswallowtails |