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Harvesting Venom Toxins from Assassin Bugs and Other Heteropteran Insects

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Published on: April 21, 2018

Antagonistic, stage-specific selection on defensive chemical sequestration in a toxic butterfly.

James A Fordyce^1,2, Chris C Nice³

¹Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996.

Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution

|April 1, 2008

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Pipevine swallowtail butterfly larvae sequester toxic aristolochic acids for defense. This sequestration enhances larval survival but reduces adult fat reserves, creating a trade-off that maintains variation in this trait.

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Area of Science:

Chemical Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Insect Physiology

Background:

Pipevine swallowtail butterflies (Battus philenor) ingest aristolochic acids from Aristolochia host plants.
These sequestered toxins provide chemical defense for both larval and adult stages against predators.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the variation in aristolochic acid sequestration ability among Battus philenor families.
To determine the relationship between sequestration ability, larval development, and survival.
To examine the consequences of sequestration on adult fitness indicators like fat content.

Main Methods:

Utilized a chemically defined artificial diet to control aristolochic acid levels.
Observed larval sequestration ability and developmental rates in a central Texas population.
Conducted field experiments exposing larval cohorts to natural predators.
Analyzed the correlation between adult aristolochic acid content and adult fat content.

Main Results:

Significant variation in aristolochic acid sequestration and larval development rates was observed among families.
Larvae from families with higher aristolochic acid sequestration showed increased survivorship in field trials.
Larval growth rate did not correlate with survivorship.
Higher aristolochic acid content in adults was negatively correlated with adult fat content.

Conclusions:

Aristolochic acid sequestration enhances larval survival but incurs a cost to adult fitness (reduced fat content).
These opposing selection pressures during different life stages may explain the persistence of variation in sequestration ability in wild populations.
The study highlights a developmental trade-off in chemical defense strategies in Battus philenor.