Scarlet-bodied Wasp Moth (Cosmosoma myrodora) - way cool biology!

[Vincent Lucas]

Mike Quinn said:

> Queens (Danaus gilippus) require PAs for courtship as well, but in  
> this case the PAs are converted to pheromones rather than  
> protective chemicals. (If I had known there was this fascinating  
> world of plant-insect interaction chemistry, I might have paid more  
> attention during Organic Chemistry...)
>
> Multiple male Queens on withered Eupatorium greggii
> http://tinyurl.com/cetlg
>
> Boppré (1979) apparently found that withered or damaged plants in  
> the tribes Senecioneae and Eupatorieae of the Asteraceae, as well  
> as plants in the Boraginaceae and Fabaceae were particularly  
> attractive to male danaids.
>
> Boppré, M. 1979. Lepidoptera and withered plants. Antenna (Bulletin  
> of the Royal Entomological Society of London 3: 7-9.
>
> Multiple male Queens on Senecio riddelli
> http://tinyurl.com/8fjms
>
> Multiple male Queens on Senecio confusis
> http://tinyurl.com/8rb79
>
> Male Queen shown with extruded hairpencils releasing pheromones in  
> front of a female Queen:
> http://tinyurl.com/ykwwud


Mike:

Have a look at this photo of some Queens on some rattlebox seed pods  
I recently took here in Southwest Florida. Go to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leppyone/286783298/

Is that what these Queens are doing on this rattlebox -- Sesbania  
punicea (Cav.) Benth.?

Thanks.

Vincent Lucas
Naples, FL
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