Swallowtail butterflies sample the taste of host plants before laying eggs
A team of international researchers at JT Biohistory Research Hall (Osaka), Osaka Univ. and Kyushu Univ. have discovered that swallowtail butterflies use their gustatory receptors on the front legs to detect suitable host plants, Rutaceae, for their offspring. The findings were announced on the Nature Communications Online magazine on Nov. 15, 2011.
The same mechanism is said to be the case for cabbage butterflies. Researcher Ozaki says, “Butterflies need to be able to detect suitable host plants for their offspring for the species to survive. The findings hypothesizes how the diversification of insects occurred over time.”
When I was growing up, I witnessed several swallowtail caterpillars munching away our parsley in our planter. (I don’t think parsley is Rutaceae.) When parsley was running out, I bought some from the grocers, washed it and offered to the catapillars, but to my dismay, they all died from pesticide poisoning. It was really heartbreaking, and now I buy organic produce whenever possible.
Notes
-
sometimes963hi liked this
-
violence258go liked this
-
activity5kill liked this
-
brendaca83 liked this
-
heatherhek00 liked this
-
hopsii posted this
