The chemistry of antipredator defense by secondary compounds in neotropical lepidoptera: facts, perspectives and caveats

By José Roberto Trigo. 2000

86 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Chemical defense against predation in butterflies and moths has been studied since nineteenth century. A classical example is that of the larvae of the monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus, which feed on leaves of Asclepias curassavica (Asclepiadaceae), sequestering cardenolides. The adults are protected against predation by birds. Several other substances may be involved in chemical defense, such as iridoid glycosides, cyanogenic glycosides, glucosinolates, pyrrolizidine and tropane alkaloids, aristolochic acids, glycosidase inhibitors and pyrazines. The acquisition of these substances by lepidopterans can be due to sequestration from larval or adult host plants or de novo biosynthesis. Many Lepidoptera are known to be unpalatable, including the butterflies Troidini (Papilionidae), Pierinae (Pieridae), Eurytelinae, Melitaeinae, Danainae, Ithomiinae, Heliconiinae and Acraeinae (Nymphalidae), and Arctiidae moths, but knowledge of the chemical substances responsible for property is often scarce. This review discusses mainly three topics: field and laboratory observations on rejection of butterflies and moths by predators, correlation between unpalatability and chemicals found in these insects, and bioassays that test the activity of these chemicals against predators. Perspectives and future directions are suggested for this subject.

Subfields: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Insect Science, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8d56144cd55408f4087dafbfc1ff07b66da90185

How researchers see this paper

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In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

1. T. Remmel
2. J. Davison
3. T. Tammaru
4. Juhan Javois

In Insect Science

1. J. Davison
2. T. Remmel
3. T. Tammaru
4. Yoshihiro Kobae

In Plant Science

1. J. Davison
2. T. Remmel
3. T. Tammaru
4. Yoshihiro Kobae
5. Juhan Javois

Citations in the corpus

• Quantifying predation on folivorous insect larvae: the perspective of life‐history evolution (2011, background): “…utilizing the physical background and chemicals provided by their host plants as defence against predators, and they suffer lower predation from generalist predators as a result (e.g. Bernays, 1988; Bernays & Cornelius, 1989; Hay et al., 1990; Dyer & Floyd, 1993; Trigo, 2000; Müller et al., 2001).”
• Plant chemistry and insect sequestration (2009, unknown): “PAs cannot only be sequestered from leaves but also from flowers, as shown for Chauliognathus fallax (Cantharidae) feeding on the inflorescences of Senecio brasiliensis (Asteraceae) (Klitzke and Trigo 2000).”
• Effects of pyrrolizidine alkaloids through different trophic levels (2011, unknown): “... Aphis jacobaeae and the coccid Ceroplastes albolineatus (Witte et al. 1990; Loaiza et al. 2007), the true bugs Neacoryphus bicrucis (Lygaeidae), Largus rufipennis (Largidae) and Lopidea instabile (Miridae) (McLain 1984; McLain and Shure 1985; Klitzke and Trigo 2000), many arctiid moths and all d”