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Danaus butterflies of the Americas do not perform leaf-scratching

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Abstract

Danaine butterflies sequester pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) from several plant sources. The underlying mechanisms that mediate this interaction have not been explored. It is also underappreciated whether species that differ in PA demands forage differently. Decision-making in the southern monarch butterfly Danaus erippus (low PA-demand) was compared with the queen butterfly D. gilippus (high PA-demand) in relation to withered and freshly damaged leaves of Crotalaria spectabilis (monocrotaline-rich plant). The ultrastructure of the proboscis and mesothoracic legs of D. erippus, D. gilippus and D. plexippus was also analysed. Attraction of D. erippus and D. gilippus to withered or freshly damaged leaves of C. spectabilis was negligible. The two Danaus species did not scratch leaves and did not differ in feeding time on this PA plant. Butterflies did not visit vegetative PA sources in the field. The proboscis and mesothoracic legs of all Danaus species studied did not present hooks and/or spines for scratching leaves. Basiconic sensilla were found on the surface of the proboscis of all butterfly species analysed. In contrast to the current knowledge on Danaus, these results revealed that common species of the Americas are not attracted to vegetative PA sources. It is suggested that Danaus species may have diversified independently with respect to PA assimilation capacities and use.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank J. Bizarro, R. Locke and N. Locke for allowing us to collect at Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçú (REGUA). They are especially grateful to C. E. de Viveiros Grelle for laboratory support. N. S. da Rocha generously allowed us to conduct the field study in his property. V. F. da Veiga advised us in relation to critical point drying and gold coating. They pay their special thanks to I. D. da Silva-Neto and M. Sales for help with the scanning electron microscopy. A. Tenger-Trolander, D. Massardo and M. Kronforst kindly provided specimens of Danaus plexippus. C. Odete Antinarelli and the staff of Horto da Prefeitura Universitária/ UFRJ provided logistics for the insectary experiments. They also thank F. Gusmão and members of Laboratório de Interações Inseto-Planta/UFRJ for laboratory assistance, A. F. S. Neto for field assistance and S. Rasmann for critically reviewing early drafts of the manuscript. They are also grateful to Steve Malcolm and one anonymous reviewer whose suggestions substantially improved the manuscript. They also thank L. Eaton for language editing. BCM Ramos received a fellowship from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Foundation. D. Rodrigues is supported by a Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Grant No. (400789/2014-0). The authors declare there are no conflicts of interest.

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  1. Laboratório de Interações Inseto-Planta, Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, PO Box 68020, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-902, Brazil

    Bruna de Cássia Menezes Ramos & Daniela Rodrigues

  2. Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, PO Box 68020, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-902, Brazil

    Daniela Rodrigues

  3. Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, PO Box 6109, Campinas, SP, 13083-970, Brazil

    José Roberto Trigo

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  1. Bruna de Cássia Menezes Ramos
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Correspondence to Bruna de Cássia Menezes Ramos.

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Ramos, B.C.M., Trigo, J.R. & Rodrigues, D. Danaus butterflies of the Americas do not perform leaf-scratching. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 14, 521–529 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-020-09766-5

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