Black swallowtail butterfly furanocoumarins

Metabolic Detoxification of Linear and Angular Furanocoumarins by Caterpillars of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly... 

Most insect herbivores appear to be rather effectively repelled by furanocoumarin-containing plants (21-24). A notable exception to this generalization occurs among some butterflies of the family Paplllonldae, whose caterpillars are adapted to feed successfully and in fact preferentially on plants that contain linear, but not angular, furanocoumarlns (22). These circumstances prompted us to undertake studies with the black swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes) and radiolabeled furanocoumarlns in attempts to elucidate the nature of the Insect/furanocoumarln Interactions Involved. 

Bull, D.L., Ivie, G.W., Beier, R.C., and Pryor, N.W., In vitro metabolism of a linear furanocoumarin (8-methoxypsoralen, xanthotoxin) by mixed-function oxidases of larvae of black swallowtail butterfly and fall army worm, /. Chem. Ecol., 12,885,1986. 

Interestingly, the black swallowtail butterfly has maximized its metabolic detoxification processes allowing its larva to feed on plants with a high linear furanocoumarin content (40) Psoralen, bergapten, xanthotoxin, and isopimpinellin are... 

IviE, G. W., D. L. Bull, R. C. Beier, and N. W. Pryor, Metabolic detoxification of linear and angular furanocoumarins by caterpillars of the black swallowtail butterfly, in Allelochemicals Role in Agriculture and Forestry (G. R. Waller, ed.), ACS Symposium Series 330, 455-462, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1987. 

---