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. 

Plexippus paykulli s Female silk changes behavior of males Jackson, 1987... 

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. 

Like other insects, lepidopterans bear cuticular hydrocarbons to protect them against desiccation. These hydrocarbons can be used as taxonomic markers (Table 7.6). In the Danaus genus, D. erippus and D. plexippus show reproductive isolation. Some taxonomists view them as separate species, but others consider D. erippus as a subspecies of D. plexippus. Hybridization experiments showing prezygotic and postzygotic isolation, as well as differences in CHC chromatograms, strongly support the hypothesis that the two species are separate (Hay-Roe et al., 2007). 

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. 

Plexippus paykulli (Andouin) silk Jackson, 1987 Jackson and Cooper, 1990... 

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,... 

American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) male attractant (OD-R) Monarch butterfly (Datums plexippus), defence grasshopper (Poekilocerus bufonius) defence (squirts) (derived from plant) Ant (Acanthomyops claviger) defence bee (Oxaea) male territory marker (OD-R) [antiseptic]... 

Certain reductases are important in the detoxification of allelochemicals. For example, the milkweed cardinolide is metabolized by aldehyde reductase to calactin or calotropin (an enantiomer) in the monarch butterfly (Danacus plexippus) (Marty and Krieger, 1984). 

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... 

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