A free lunch? No cost for acquiring defensive plant pyrrolizidine alkaloids in a specialist arctiid moth (Utetheisa ornatrix)

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (24) ◽  
pp. 6152-6162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Cogni ◽  
José R. Trigo ◽  
Douglas J. Futuyma
Keyword(s):  
Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids ◽  
Free Lunch ◽  
Utetheisa Ornatrix ◽  
Arctiid Moth

scholarly journals Chrysoperla externa (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) and Utetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) on organically grown Crotalaria juncea (Fabaceae)

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Costa ◽  
W.S. Tavares ◽  
A.I.A. Pereira ◽  
I. Cruz ◽  
J.E. Serrão ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Artificial Diet ◽  
Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids ◽  
Biological Research ◽  
Utetheisa Ornatrix ◽  
Crotalaria Juncea ◽  
Lifetime Fecundity ◽  
Ecological Aspects ◽  
Minas Gerais State ◽  
Organically Grown

Chrysoperla externa (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) larvae can avoid foraging on plants of Crotalaria juncea (Fabaceae) after the issuance of floral buds, when the prey of Utetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) incorporate toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids from this plant. This reduces the predation and favors increasing the number of adults and eggs of this defoliator on crops of this plant. The aim of the present paper was to evaluate some biological and ecological aspects of C. externa and U. ornatrix on the organic crop of C. juncea in the EMBRAPA Maize and Sorghum in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Chrysoperla externa and U. ornatrix were more abundant in the vegetative and flowering stages of C. juncea, respectively, with caterpillars of this defoliator feeding on leaves and seeds of this plant. The duration of the stages/instars, survival, lifetime fecundity, and oviposition showed that the branches of C. juncea are a suitable food for U. ornatrix. The abundance of adults and larvae of C. externa was lower in the flowering and pods stages of C. juncea, respectively, when the postures of U. ornatrix are present, probably due to the toxicity of the eggs of this prey to this predator. During these stages, C. externa may be reared with alternative hosts, and when the crops of C. juncea are scarce, an artificial diet should be used for rearing this defoliator in the laboratory for biological research and the development of biological control tactics.

Sequestration, N-Oxidation and Transformation of Plant Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids by the Arctiid Moth Tyria jacobaeae L

1990 ◽  
Vol 45 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 1185-1192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adelheid Ehmke ◽  
Ludger Witte ◽  
Andreas Biller ◽  
Thomas Hartmann
Keyword(s):  
Host Plants ◽  
Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Senecio Jacobaea ◽  
Tyria Jacobaeae ◽  
Arctiid Moth ◽  
Hydrolysis Of

Larvae of the arctiid moth Tyria jacobaeae reared on Senecio jacobaea or S. vulgaris take up and store pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) from their host plants. Individual PAs are taken up without preference. The PA patterns found in the insect bodies correspond to the PA composi­tion of their host plants. Like plants the insects store PAs as N-oxides, and larvae as well as pupae are specifically able to N -oxidize any tertiary PA. Callimorphine (O9-(2-methyl-2-acetoxybutanoyl)-retronecine), an insect PA well known from several arctiids, was found in pupae and imagines of Tyria which as larvae had been fed on S. jacobaea. It is accompanied by small amounts of its isomer O7-(2-methyl-2-acetoxybutanoyl)-retronecine named isocallimor-phine. The callimorphines may well account for 45% of total PAs found in the insect. Only small amounts of callimorphine were detected in pupae of Tyria which as larvae had been fed on S. vulgaris. [14C]Callimorphine N -oxide was isolated and identified from Tyria pupae which as larvae received [14C]retronecine. It is suggested that Tyria is able to esterify retronecine, derived from hydrolysis of ingested plant PAs with a necic acid produced by the insect. During metamorphosis the formation of callimorphine is restricted to the early stage of pupa­tion.

Time-Course of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid Processing in the Alkaloid Exploiting Arctiid Moth, Creatonotos transiens

1990 ◽  
Vol 45 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 881-894 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva von Nickisch-Rosenegk ◽  
Dietrich Schneider ◽  
Michael Wink
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids ◽  
Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid ◽  
Hydroxyl Group ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Arctiid Moth ◽  
Total Alkaloids ◽  
Creatonotos Transiens

Abstract The processing of dietary pyrrolizidine alkaloids by larvae and adults of the arctiid moth Creatonotos transiens was studied in time-course experiments: In larvae, pyrrolizidine alkaloid uptake is quickly followed by the transformation of the alkaloids into their N-oxides. Further- more, if 7 S-heliotrine is applied, a stereochemical inversion of the hydroxyl group at C 7 to 7 R-heliotrine can be observed within 48 h of feeding. The rate of this biotransformation is substantially higher in males which use the 7 R-form later as a precursor for the biosynthesis of 7 R-hydroxydanaidal, a pheromone. The resorbed pyrrolizidine alkaloids are deposited in the integument within 48 h, where they remain stored during the larval, pupal and partly also the imaginal stages. Virtually no alkaloids are lost during ecdysis. Some pyrrolizidine alkaloids can be recovered from the meconium which is released at eclosion by the imagines especially when disturbed. In the adults pyrrolizidine alkaloids are processed in different ways by the two sexes: In females, about 50-80% of total alkaloids are transferred from the integument to the ovaries and the eggs within 2 - 3 days after eclosion. If females mate with alkaloid-rich males they additionally receive with the spermatophore up to 290 jig pyrrolizidine alkaloid, which are further translocated to the eggs. A biparental endowment of eggs with acquired defence alkaloids is thus achieved. In males, 30-50% of pyrrolizidine alkaloids remain in the integu- ment; about 10 - 30% are transferred to the scent organ, the corema, where they are converted into 7 R-hydroxydanaidal. Another part (about 40%) is passed to the spermatophore. In the laboratory experiments, the sizes of the coremata and their respective 7 R-hydroxydanaidal contents are strongly dependent on the availability of dietary pyrrolizidine alkaloids during L6 and especially L7 stages. In the L7 stage even short-term feeding (4-6 h) on Senecio jaco- haea is sufficient to induce large coremata.

Female Promiscuity Does Not Lead to Increased Fertility or Fecundity in an Arctiid Moth (Utetheisa ornatrix)

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 213-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander L. Bezzerides ◽  
Vikram K. Iyengar ◽  
Thomas Eisner
Keyword(s):  
Utetheisa Ornatrix ◽  
Arctiid Moth ◽  
Female Promiscuity

Courtship pheromone production and body size as correlates of larval diet in males of the arctiid moth,Utetheisa ornatrix

1990 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 543-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. E. Conner ◽  
B. Roach ◽  
E. Benedict ◽  
J. Meinwald ◽  
T. Eisner
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Larval Diet ◽  
Pheromone Production ◽  
Utetheisa Ornatrix ◽  
Courtship Pheromone ◽  
Arctiid Moth
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