Artículos de revistas
Southern Monarchs Do Not Develop Learned Preferences For Flowers With Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids
Registro en:
Southern Monarchs Do Not Develop Learned Preferences For Flowers With Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids. Springer, v. 41, p. 662-669 JUL-2015.
0098-0331
WOS:000361465800008
10.1007/s10886-015-0598-2
Autor
de Oliveira
Marina Vasconcelos; Trigo
Jose Roberto; Rodrigues
Daniela
Institución
Resumen
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Danaus butterflies sequester pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) from nectar and leaves of various plant species for defense and reproduction. We tested the hypothesis that the southern monarch butterfly Danaus erippus shows innate preferences for certain flower colors and has the capacity to develop learned preferences for artificial flowers presenting advantageous floral rewards such as PAs. We predicted that orange and yellow flowers would be innately preferred by southern monarchs. Another prediction is that flowers with both sucrose and PAs would be preferred over those having sucrose only, regardless of flower color. In nature, males of Danaus generally visit PA sources more often than females, so we expected that males of D. erippus would exhibit a stronger learned preference for PA sources than the females. In the innate preference tests, adults were offered artificial non-rewarding yellow, orange, blue, red, green, and violet flowers. Orange and yellow artificial flowers were most visited by southern monarchs, followed by blue and red ones. No individual visited either green or violet flowers. For assessing learned preferences for PA flowers over flowers with no PAs, southern monarchs were trained to associate orange flowers with sucrose plus the PA monocrotaline vs. yellow flowers with sucrose only; the opposite combination was used to train another set of butterflies. In the tests, empty flowers were offered to trained butterflies. Neither males nor females showed learned preferences for flower colors associated with PAs in the training set. Thus, southernmonarchs resemble the sister species Danaus plexippus in their innate preferences for orange and yellow flowers. Southern monarchs, similarly to temperate monarchs, might not be as PA-demanding as are other danaine species. 41 7
662 669 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) FAPESP [2011/17708-0] CNPq [306103/2013-3, 480264/2010-4]