What eats plantain?

Niklas Wahlberg Niklas.Wahlberg at zoologi.su.se
Wed May 16 02:47:40 EDT 2001


At 18:19 2001.05.15 -0700, Sunsol wrote:
>Thanks for the info. I wonder why caterpillars find plantain so yummy.

Well, for anyone interested, I claim that certain chemicals in the host 
plants of checkerspots known as iridoid glycosides are what makes the 
caterpillars chomp on plantain and other plants. You can read about my 
claim in a recent issue of Evolution (volume 55 pages 522-537). Iridoids 
have also been shown to influence the feeding behaviour of buckeyes.

Cheers,
Niklas


>Niklas Wahlberg <Niklas.Wahlberg at zoologi.su.se> wrote in message
>news:5.0.2.1.2.20010514100950.00b39c98 at mail.it.su.se...
> > Hi,
> >    The only butterflies eating plantain in Britain (to my knowledge) are
> > Melitaea cinxia (Glanville fritillary), which has a black spiny
>caterpillar
> > with a brick red head, and occasionally Melitaea athalia (heath
> > fritillary), which has a dark grey caterpillar with a black head and some
> > yellow bands on the body. Several other melitaeines use Plantago on
> > mainland Europe. Tolman and Lewington's "Butterflies of Britain and
>Europe"
> > is a good reference. The melitaeines (checkerspots) are fairly closely
> > related to buckeyes. How closely, I'm trying to find out at the moment!
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Niklas
> >
> > At 15:19 2001.05.12 -0700, Sunsol wrote:
> > >In my neighborhood, buckeye caterpillars eat plaintain. But I received a
> > >postcard from the University of California Press announcing the
>publication
> > >of British Butterflies and their Collectors by Michael A Salmon. There is
> > >one of those beautiful old-fashioned botanical prints on the front with
> > >butterflies, caterpillars, and even a chrysalis on plantain. Opps! no
> > >caption. So what is that eating plantain in Britian? They have a website
>at
> > >www.ucpress.edu, but I doubt that the illustration is there. Maybe the
> > >illustration has little to do with the book...
> > >
> > >Sally
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
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> > Niklas Wahlberg
> > Department of Zoology
> > Stockholm University
> > S-106 91 Stockholm
> > SWEDEN
> >
> > Phone: +46 8 164047
> > Fax:   +46 8 167715
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> >
> >
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Niklas Wahlberg
Department of Zoology
Stockholm University
S-106 91 Stockholm
SWEDEN

Phone: +46 8 164047
Fax:   +46 8 167715

http://www.zoologi.su.se/research/ihp/


 
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