Summary
This paper is the fourth in a series on cardenolide fingerprints of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus, Danainae) and their host-plant milkweeds (Asclepiadaceae) in the eastern United States. Cardenolide concentrations ofAsclepias humistrata plants from north central Florida ranged from 71 to 710 µg/0.1 g dry weight, with a mean of 417 µg/0.1 g. Monarchs reared individually on these plants contained cardenolide concentrations ranging from 243 to 575 µg/0.1 g dry weight, with a mean of 385 µg/0.1 g. Cardenolide uptake by butterflies was independent of plant concentration, suggesting that sequestration saturation occurs in monarchs fed cardenolide-rich host plants. Thinlayer chromatography resolved 19 cardenolides in the plants and 15 in the butterflies. In addition to humistratin,A. humistrata plants contained several relatively non-polar cardenolides of the calotropagenin series which are metabolized to more polar derivatives in the butterflies. These produced a butterfly cardenolide fingerprint clearly distinct from those previously established for monarchs reared on otherAsclepias species. In emetic assays with the blue jay,Cyanocitta cristata, the 50% emetic dose (ED50) per jay was 57.1 µg, and the average number of ED50 units per butterfly was 13.8, establishing that this important south eastern milkweed produces highly emetic, chemically defended monarchs. Our data provide further support for the use of cardenolide fingerprints of wild-caught monarchs to make ecological predictions concerning defence against natural enemies, seasonal movement and larval host-plant utilization by monarch butterflies during their annual cycle of migration, breeding and overwintering.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arellano GA, Glendinning JI, Anderson JB, Brower LP (1992) Interspecific comparisons of the foraging dynamics of black-backed orioles and black-headed grosbeaks on overwintering monarch butterflies in Mexico. In pressin Malcolm SB, Zalucki MP (eds) Biology and Conservation of the Monarch Butterfly. Los Angeles, California: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Baker RR (1978) The Evolutionary Ecology of Animal Migration. New York: Holmes and Meier
Brower LP (1961) Studies on the migration of the monarch butterfly. I. Breeding populations ofDanaus plexippus andD. gilippus berenice in south central Florida. Ecology 41:76–83
Brower LP (1962) Evidence for interspecific competition in natural populations of the monarch and queen butterflies,Danaus plexippus, andD. gilippus berenice in south central Florida. Ecology 43:549–552
Brower LP (1984) Chemical defence in butterflies. Symp R Ent Soc Lond 11:109–134
Brower LP (1985) New perspectives on the migration biology of the monarch butterfly,Danaus plexippus L. Pp 748–785in Rankin MA (ed.) Migration: Mechanisms and Adaptive Significance. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Contributions in Marine Science, Suppl. 27
Brower LP, Calvert WH (1985) Foraging dynamics of bird predators on overwintering monarch butterflies in Mexico. Evolution 39:852–868
Brower LP, Glazier (1975) Localization of heart poisons in the monarch butterfly. Science 188:19–25
Brower LP, Moffitt CM (1974) Palatability dynamics of cardenolides in the monarch butterfly. Nature 249:280–283
Brower LP, Ryerson WN, Coppinger LL, Glazier SC (1968) Ecological chemistry and the palatability spectrum. Science 161:1349–1351
Brower LP, McEvoy PB, Williams KL, Flannery MA (1972) Variation in cardiac glycoside content of monarch butterflies from natural populations in eastern North America. Science 177:426–429
Brower LP, Edmunds M, Moffitt CM (1975) Cardenolide content and palatability of a population ofDanaus chrysippus butterflies from West Africa. J Ent (A) 49:183–196
Brower LP, Seiber JN, Nelson CJ, Lynch SP, Tuskes PM (1982) Plant-determined variation in the cardenolide content, thin-layer chromatography profiles, and emetic potency of monarch butterflies,Danaus plexippus reared on the milkweed,Asclepias eriocarpa in California. J Chem Ecol 8:579–633
Brower LP, Seiber JN, Nelson CJ, Lynch SP, Holland MM (1984a) Plant-determined variation in the cardenolide content, thin-layer chromatography profiles, and emetic potency of monarch butterflies,Danaus plexippus L. reared on milkweed plants in California: 2.Asclepias speciosa. J Chem Ecol 10:601–639
Brower LP, Seiber JN, Nelson CJ, Lynch SP, Hoggard MP, Cohen JA (1984b) Plant-determined variation in cardenolide content and thinlayer chromatography profiles of monarch butterflies,Danaus plexippus reared on milkweed plants in California 3.Asclepias californica. J Chem Ecol 10:1823–1857
Brower LP, Nelson CJ, Seiber JN, Fink LS, Bond C (1988) Exaptation as an alternative to coevolution in the cardenolide-based chemical defense of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus L.) against avian predators. Pp 447–475in Spencer KC (ed.) Chemical Mediation of Coevolution. San Diego: Academic Press
Brüschweiler F, Stöckel K, Reichstein T (1969)Calotropis-Glykoside, vermutliche Teilstruktur. Helv Chim Acta 52:2276–2303
Calvert WH, Brower LP (1986) The location of monarch butterfly(Danaus plexippus) overwintering colonies in Mexico in relation to topography and microclimate. J Lep Soc 40:164–187
Calvert WH, Hedrick LE, Brower LP (1979) Mortality of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus L.): avian predation at five overwintering sites in Mexico. Science 204:847–850
Cockrell BJ, Malcolm SB, Brower LP (1992) Time, temperature, and latitudinal constraints on the annual recolonization of eastern North America by the monarch butterfly. In pressin Malcolm SB, Zalucki MP (eds) Biology and Conservation of the Monarch Butterfly. Los Angeles, California: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Cohen JA, Brower LP (1982) Oviposition and larval success of wild monarch butterflies (Lepidoptera: Danaidae) in relation to host plant size and cardenolide concentration. J Kans Ent Soc 55:343–348
Dixon CA, Erickson JM, Kellett DN, Rothschild M (1978) Some adaptations betweenDanaus plexippus and its food plant, with notes onDanaus chrysippus andEuploea core (Insecta: Lepidoptera). J Zool Lond 185:437–467
Dixon WJ, Massey FJ (1957) Introduction to Statistical Analysis. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill
Duffey SS, Scudder GGE (1972) Cardiac glycosides in North American Asclepiadaceae, a basis for unpalatability in brightly coloured Hemiptera and Coleoptera. J Insect Physiol 18:63–78
Duffey SS, Scudder GGE (1974) Cardiac glycosides inOncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas) (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae). I. The uptake and distribution of natural cardenolides in the body. Can J Zool 52:283–290
Duffey SS, Blum MS, Isman MB, Scudder GGE (1978) Cardiac glycosides: a physical system for their sequestration by the milkweed bug. J Insect Physiol 24:639–645
Erickson JM (1973) The utilization of variousAsclepias species by larvae of the monarch butterflyDanaus plexippus. Psyche 80:230–244
Fink LS, Brower LP (1981) Birds can overcome the cardenolide defence of monarch butterflies in Mexico. Nature 291:67–70
Fink LS, Brower LP, Waide RB, Spitzer PR (1983) Overwintering monarch butterflies as food for insectivorous birds in Mexico. Biotropica 15:151–153
Glendinning JI (1992) Comparative feeding responses of the micePeromyscus melanotis, P. aztecus, Reithrodontomys sumichrasti, andMicrotus mexicanus to overwintering monarch butterflies in Mexico. In pressin Malcolm SB, Zalucki MP (eds) Biology and Conservation of the Monarch Butterfly. Los Angeles, California: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Glendinning JI, Alonso Mejia A, Brower LP (1987) Behavioral and ecological interactions of foraging micePeromyscus melanotis) with overwintering monarch butterflies(Danaus plexippus) in Mexico. Oecologia 75:222–227
Isman MB, Duffey SS, Scudder GGE (1977) Variation in cardenolide content of the lygaeid bugs,Oncopeltus fasciatus andLygaeus kalmii kalmii and of their milkweed hosts (Asclepias spp.) in central California. J Chem Ecol 3:613–624
Lynch SP, Martin RA (1987) Cardenolide content and thin-layer chromatography profiles of monarch butterflies,Danaus plexippus L., and their larval host-plant milkweed,Asclepias viridis Walt., in northwestern Louisiana. J Chem Ecol 13:47–70
Lynch SP, Martin RA (1992) Milkweed host-plant utilization and cardenolide sequestration by monarch butterflies in Louisiana and Texas. In pressin Malcolm SB, Zalucki MP (eds) Biology and Conservation of the Monarch Butterfly. Los Angeles, California: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Malcolm SB (1990) Chemical defence in chewing and sucking insect herbivores: plant-derived cardenolides in the monarch butterfly and oleander aphid. Chemoecology 1:12–21
Malcolm SB (1992) Cardenolide-mediated interactions between plants and herbivores. Pp 251–296in Rosenthal G, Berenbaum M (eds) Herbivores: Their Interactions With Secondary Plant Metabolites. Volume 1: The Chemical Participants. San Diego: Academic Press
Malcolm SB, Brower LP (1986) Selective oviposition by monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus L.) in a mixed stand ofAsclepias curassavica L. andA. incarnata L. in south Florida. J Lepid Soc 40:255–263
Malcolm SB, Brower LP (1989) Evolutionary and ecological implications of cardenolide sequestration in the monarch butterfly. Experientia 45:284–295
Malcolm SB, Cockrell BJ, Brower LP (1987) Monarch butterfly voltinism: effects of temperature constraints at different latitudes. Oikos 49:77–82
Malcolm SB, Cockrell BJ, Brower LP (1989) Cardenolide fingerprint of monarch butterflies reared on common milkweed,Asclepias syriaca L. J Chem Ecol 15:819–853
Malcolm SB, Cockrell BJ, Brower LP (1992) Spring recolonization of eastern North America by the monarch butterfly: successive brood or single sweep migration? In pressin Malcolm SB, Zalucki MP (eds) Biology and Conservation of the Monarch Butterfly. Los Angeles, California: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Martin RA, Lynch SP (1988) Cardenolide content and thin-layer chromatography profiles of monarch butterflies,Danaus plexippus L., and their larval host-plant milkweed,Asclepias asperula subsp.capricornu (Woods.) Woods., in north central Texas. J Chem Ecol 14:295–318
Moore LV, Scudder GGE (1985) Selective sequestration of milkweed (Asclepias sp.) cardenolides inOncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas) (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae). J Chem Ecol 11:667–687
Nelson CJ (1992) A model for cardenolide and cardenolide glycoside storage by the monarch butterfly. In pressin Malcolm SB, Zalucki MP (eds) Biology and Conservation of the Monarch Butterfly. Los Angeles, California: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Nelson CJ, Seiber JN, Brower LP (1981) Seasonal and intraplant variation of cardenolide content in the California milkweed,Asclepias eriocarpa, and implications for plant defense. J Chem Ecol 7:981–1010
Nishio S (1980) The fates and adaptive significance of cardenolides sequestered by larvae ofDanaus plexippus (L.) andCycnia inopinatus (Hy. Edwards). Athens, Georgia: Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Georgia
Nishio S, Blum MS, Silverton JV, Highet RJ (1982) Structure of humistratin: a novel cardenolide from the sandhill milkweedAsclepias humistrata. J Org Chem 47:2154–2157
Oyeyele SD, Zalucki MP (1990) Cardiac glycosides and oviposition byDanaus plexippus onAsclepias fruticosa in south-east Queensland (Australia), with notes on the effect of plant nitrogen content. Ecol Entomol 15:177–185
Riley TJ (1992) Spring migration and oviposition of the monarch butterfly, in Louisiana. In pressin Malcolm SB, Zalucki MP (eds) Biology and Conservation of the Monarch Butterfly. Los Angeles, California: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Roeske CN, Seiber JN, Brower LP, Moffitt CM (1976) Milkweed cardenolides and their comparative processing by monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus L.). Rec Adv Phytochem 10:93–167
SAS Institute (1987) SAS/STAT Guide for Personal Computers. Version 6 edition. Cary, North Carolina: SAS Institute Inc.
Scudder GGE, Meredith J (1982) The permeability of the midgut of three insects to cardiac glycosides. J Insect Physiol 28:689–694
Scudder GGE, Moore LV, Isman MB (1986) Sequestration of cardenolides inOncopeltus fasciatus; morphological and physiological adaptations. J Chem Ecol 12:1171–1187
Seiber JN, Brower LP, Lee SM, McChesney MM, Cheung HTA, Nelson CJ, Watson TR (1986) Cardenolide connection between overwintering monarch butterflies from Mexico and their larval food plant,Asclepias syriaca. J Chem Ecol 12:1157–1170
Seiber JN, Lee SM, Benson JM (1983) Cardiac glycosides (cardenolides) in species ofAsclepias (Asclepiadaceae). Pp 48–83in Keeler RF, Tu AT (eds) Handbook of Natural Toxins, Vol. 1. Plant and Fungal Toxins. New York: Marcel Dekker
Seiber JN, Lee SM, Benson JM (1984) Chemical characteristics and ecological significance of cardenolides inAsclepias (milkweed) species. Pp 563–588in Nes WD, Fuller G, Tsai L (eds) Isopentenoids in Plants: Biochemistry and Function. New York: Marcel Dekker
Seiber JN, Tuskes PM, Brower LP, Nelson CJ (1980) Pharmacodynamics of some individual milkweed cardenolides fed to larvae of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus L.). J Chem Ecol 6:321–339
Steel RGD, Torrie JH (1960) Principles and Procedures of Statistics. New York: McGraw-Hill
Tuskes PM, Brower LP (1978) Overwintering ecology of the monarch butterfly,Danaus plexippus L., in California. Ecol Ent 3:141–153
Urquhart FA (1960) The Monarch Butterfly. Toronto: University of Toronto Press
Vaughan GL, Jungreis AM (1977) Intensitivity of lepidopteran tissues to ouabain: physiological mechanisms for protection from cardiac glycosides. J Insect Physiol 23:585–589
Woodson RE Jr (1954) The North American species ofAsclepias L. Ann Mo Bot Gard 41:1–211
Zalucki MP, Brower LP, Malcolm SB (1990) Oviposition byDanaus plexippus in relation to cardenolide contents of threeAsclepias species in the southeastern USA. Ecol Entomol 15:231–240
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Martin, R.A., Lynch, S.P., Brower, L.P. et al. Cardenolide content, emetic potency, and thin-layer chromatography profiles of monarch butterflies,Danaus plexippus, and their larval host-plant milkweed,Asclepias humistrata, in Florida. Chemoecology 3, 1–13 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01261450
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01261450