Danaus plexippus

FIGURE 25.1 (See color insert following page 336.) Larval butterflies have distinctive coloration patterns (a) Monarch (Danaus plexippus yellow, white, and black), (b) Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes asterius yellow, black, and green), (c) Queen (Danaus gillipus black, white, and yellow, some red coloration is also observable in this specimen), and (d) Atala (Eurnaceus atala florida red with yellow spots). 

Butterfly larvae (Monarch, Danaus plexippus Queen, Danaus gillipus Eastern Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes asterius and Atala, Eurnaceus atala florida) were collected in South Florida approximately seven to eight days after hatching. The larvae were carefully dissected to remove the gut to prevent the contamination of the epidermis with the intestinal contents. The epidermis was... 

At overwintering sites of the monarch butterfly [Danaus plexippus) in Mexico, only one of the three local mouse species, Peromyscus melanotis, actually feeds on the butterflies. The monarchs contain cardiac glycosides (CG) and pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA). All three species of mice have similarly low avoidance thresholds to PA (specifically, monocrotaline). But P. melanotis is less sensitive to CG (specifically, digitoxin) than the other two, Reithrodontomys sumichrasti and Peromyscus aztecus. Laboratory tests indicate that PA is toxic to young mice. 

Brower, L. P., Nelson, C. J., Seiber, J. N., Fink, L. S. and Bond, C. (1988). Exaptation as an alternative to coevolution in the cardenolide-based chemical defense of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus L.) against avian predators. In Chemical Mediation of Coevolution, ed. K. C. Spencer, pp. 447-475. San Diego, CA Academic Press/Harcourt Brace. 

Three 3-alkyl-2-methoxypyrazines (24b, 24c, and 24d) are detected as odor components in the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus (Table III). The wide variability in pyrazine content observed with this insect is correlated with similar variability in the larval food plants, Asclepias sp. It seems possible that the pyrazines may be one of the factors implicated in the food choice mechanism (69). 

Analyses of cardenolide processing in the arctlld, Cycnla inopinatus, and the monarch, Danaus plexippus, demonstrate that each species has evolved distinctive physiological mechanisms for manipulating the medley of allelochemlcs that are internally omnipresent (26). 

Nishio, S. "The Fates and Adaptive Signficance of Cardenolides Sequestered by Larvae of Danaus plexippus (L.) and Cycnia inopinatus (Hy. Edwards)" Ph. D. Thesis, University of Georgia, 1980. 

Rothschild, M., Moore, B. R and Vance Brown, W. (1984). Pyrazines as warning odour components in the Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, and in moths of the genera Zygaena and Amata (Lepidoptera). Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society 23 375-380. 

One species, the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), anomalous by virtue of its migratory habits, is exceptional also in that it visits PA-containing plants and sequesters PAs, but fails to produce a pheromonal pyrrolizidine (Meinwald et al., 1968 Pliske, 1975a Edgar et al., 1971, 1976a). Such an exception does not obscure the central fact that danaines, as a group, show male sequestration... 

Edgar J. A., Cockrum P. A. and Frahn J. L. (1976a) Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Danaus plexippus and Danaus chrysippus. Experientia 32, 1535-1537. 

Pliske T. E. (1975a) Courtship behavior of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 68, 143-151. 

Hay-Roe, M.M., Lamas, G. and Nation, J.L. (2007). Pre- and post-zygotic isolation and Haldane mle effects in reciprocal crosses of Danaus erippus and Danaus plexippus (Lepidoptera Danainae), supported by differentiation of cuticular hydrocarbons, establish their status as separate species. Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 91,445 453. 

Structural investigations on the sex pheromones of male butterflies have yielded several unique insect exocrine products. The major components in the hair pencils of the danaid Lycorea ceres ceres are cetyl acetate, (Z)-vaccenyl acetate, and 2,3-dihydro-7-methyl pyrrolizin-l-one (XXIV) (103) The dihydropyrrol izi none, as well as ( , )-3,7-dimethyldeca-2,6-dien-l,10-diol, have been identified from the hair pencils of the queen butterfly, Danaus gilippus (104), and the former compound possesses pheromonal activity when evaluated electrophysiologically (105) and behaviorally (106). The hair pencils of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, have yielded ( ,E)-10-hydroxy-3,7-dimethyl-2,6-deca dienoic acid (107) and (E,15)-3,7-dimethyl-2,6-decadien-l,10-dioic acid (108). On the other hand, the Old World monarch, Danaus chrysippus, contains (E)-3,7-dimethyloct-2-en-l,8-diol as well as the pyrrolizinone (XXIV) (109). Recently,... 

Marty, M.A. and Krieger, R.I., Metabolism of uscharidin, a milkweed cardenolide, by tissue homogenates of monarch butterfly larvae, Danaus plexippus L. /. Chem. Ecol., 10,945,1984. 

In tests for melanophore pigment dispersion in eyestalkless individuals of the fiddler crab Uca pugilator, head extracts from the cockroach Periplaneta americana and the honey bee Apis mellifera showed strong activity, as did the crustacean eyestalk extracts 36). Head extracts of the butterfly Danaus plexippus and the mealworm Tenebrio molitor fere, however, inactive in the chromatophoral dispersion assay. 

Euploea spec Danaus plexippus Danaus gilippus Papilio machaon Manduca sexta... 

Concerns over the safety of transgene introduction into environment was sensitized early in the GMO debate with significant focus on the potential toxicity of Bt endotoxins to monarch butterfly [Danaus plexippus) larvae exposed to transgenic pollen. Early data suggested that Bt corn pollen could result in potentially significant reactions in the monarch gut. 

Danaus chrysippus L. (rosmarinine), 244 Danaus plexippus L. (rosmarinine), 244 Derris elliptica... 

C. procera R.Br and toxicity F. Briischweiler et at., Helv. Chim. Acta 52, 2086 (1969). Revised structure eidem, ibid. 2276. Sequestration by larvae of Monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus L. 1. N. Sieber et al.. J. Chem. Ecol. 6, 321 (1980). Quantitative analysis of cardenolides in latex and leaves of C procera eidem. Phytochemistry 21, 2343 (1982). Biosynthesis of labelled compd M. S. Lee, J. N. Sieber, ibid. 22, 923 (1983). 

Even if the main target of a toxin is an insect which causes considerable damage to the crop, very often other insects can feed on the plant. If they are sensitive to the expressed toxin, they will also be affected which, of course, is advantageous in terms of crop protection. However, some insects could be affected in a nonintended way. An example of this is the monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus), a mythic butterfly of North America. Losey et al. [88] observed a higher mortality rate in butterfly larvae fed milkweed coated with 5t-maize pollen as compared to larvae fed leaves coated with nontransformed maize pollen or with leaves free of pollen. However, it is important to note that this study was performed under artificial laboratory conditions which do not reflect most of the characteristics of the monarch way of life [89]. In a very recent report, the EPA (September 22, 2000), on the basis of further trials, concluded that monarch butterflies were at very little risk from Bt com products, contrary to widely published reports. EPA further found that In fact, some authors are predicting that the widespread cultivation of Bt crops may have huge benefits for monarch butterfly survival. ... 

The Monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus) was found to sequester and store pyrrolizidine alkaloids when fed on homogenized leaves of Senecio vulgaris. It is thought that the presence of these alkaloids in the butterfly may contribute towards its defence mechanism, by making it unpalatable to potential predators. Unlike many other danaids, the Monarch is not dependent on pyrrolizidine alkaloids as precursors of its sex pheromones. 

A small family of tropical or subtropical butterflies with only a few members like the milkweed or monarch species. Their wingspan extends to 7-10 cm, and their annual mass migration is spectacular the North American Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) fly in autumn from southern Canada as far south as Mexico and Florida. 

The hair pencil (an extrusable brush-like structure that serves for pheromone dissemination during courtship) secretion (69) of the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) consists of sesquiterpenes (Herout, 1970) (Fig. 21.17). The sexual pheromones (69 and 70) of this insect also appear to be terpenoid in origin. 

Groeneveld, H. W., H. Stedl, B. van der Berg, and J. C. Elings, Rapid, quantitative HPLC analysis of Asclepias fruticosa L. and Danaus plexippus L. cardenolides, J. Chem. Ecol., 16, 3373-3382 (1990). 

Martin, R, A. and S. P. Lynch, Cardenolide content and thin-layer chromatography profiles of monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus L., and their larval host-plant milkweed, Asclepias asperula subsp. capricornu (Woods.) Woods., in North Central Texas, J. Chem. Ecol., 14, 295-318 (1988). 

Danaid butterflies can metabolically alter pyrrolizidine alkaloids without apparent harm. Individuals of the American monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, captured in the field were found to contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids that were present in food plants at the capture sites. Adults of D. plexippus were able to store alkaloids for several days. Unlike certain other species, however, these male butterflies do not secrete alkaloid-derived substances on their hairpencils, nor do the hairpencils figure prominently in courtship. It has been suggested that the alkaloids may contribute to the lack of palatibility of the butterflies to potential predators (Edgar et al., 1976 Pliske, 1975). 

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