Absence of Behavioral Induction in Oviposition Preference of \u3ci\u3ePapilio Glaucus\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

This study addressed the possible behaviora induction effects of previous exposure to several specific host plants on subsequent host preference hierarchy and specificity (i.e .. how far down the ranking order a female will go) the most polyphagous swallowtail butterfly in the world, Papilio glaucus (Papilionidae). Multi-choice preference bioassays using individual females in revolving arenas were used to assess one of the potentially most significant non-genetic sources of variation: learned (or induced) oviposition preferences. Results of the 4-choice studies using tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera; Magnoliaceae), black cherry (Prunus serotina; Rosaceae), quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides; Salicaceae), and hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata; Rutaceae), fail to show any significant oviposition preference induction with two-day prior exposure to any of the host species tested. It appears that the eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly, while polyphagous as a species (feeding on more than 9 families of plants), and variable in its population responses to oviposition favorites, has what may be considered a genetic hard-wiring at an individual level, with no evidence that preferences change with recent oviposition experience. Older females were not and did not become more random in their choices, and in fact increased in their specificity for tulip tree leaves

Puddling by Female Florida Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies, \u3ci\u3ePapillo Glaucus Australis\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

(excerpt) Many species from all families of Rhopaloccra have been reported to drink water (Norris 1936). Bates (1863) noted that, in the Amazon, 80 species from 22 genera flocked about the damp edges of water and, with very few exceptions, all of these individuals were males

Interaction of Introgression From \u3ci\u3ePapilio Glaucus Canadensis\u3c/i\u3e and Diapause in Producing Spring Form Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies, \u3ci\u3eP. Glaucus\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Palilionidae)

The small early spring form of the eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus has been described from Massachusetts and Illinois in the north, southward all the way into North Carolina. The wing size, shape, patterns, and color all resemble the northern subspecies, P.g. canadensis. The possibility was explored that the spring form could in fact be a reflection of genetic introgression from the northern subspecies into P.g. glaucus populations with laboratory hybrid and back­ cross studies between P.g. glaucus and P.g. canadensis under controlled environments on common foodplants. In addition, morphometric multivariate discriminant analyses of 18 wing characters showed that a P.g. canadensis genetic component to the \u27spring\u27 form could account for much of the wing pattern, size, and shape. Some environmental effects manifested during the diapause stage could also be involved in wing phenotype determination. Both genetic and environmental influences are likely to be involved in the explanation of the spring form Papilio glaucus throughout eastern North America

Differential Suitability of 12 Great Lakes Tree Species for \u3ci\u3ePapilio Canadensis\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) Larval Survival and Growth

Differential nutritional suitabilities of the 12 potential host plants of Papilio canadensis in the Great Lakes region of North America were determined with gravimetric techniques for penultimate and final larval instars. While leaf water content and leaf nitrogen content explain some of the variation, allelochemicals in different plants are likely to be involved in differential larval growth performances as well as mortal- ity of neonate larvae on tuliptree and spicebush. Oviposition tests using 3-choice arenas with quaking aspen, paper birch, and balsam poplar showed no strong host preferences. Factors affecting patterns of Papilio host use in the Great Lakes region are discussed

Two New Aberrant Forms of Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly From the Great Lakes Hybrid/Transition Zone (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

Two aberrant forms of the tiger swallowtail butterfly. Papilio glaucus, are described. Both of these aberration types (one in a male, the other in females) are believed to be previously unreported and both are from the Great Lakes hybrid zone and plant transition zone (41 ° _44°N latitude). It is, therefore, possible that genetic introgression from the northern tiger swallowtail P. glaucus canadensis may have been involved in some way with these abnormalities

The Inheritance of Diagnostic Larval Traits for Interspecific Hybrids of \u3ci\u3ePapilio Canadensis\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eP. Glaucus\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

Traits distinguishing the closely related tiger swallowtail butterfly species, Papilio canadensis and P. glaucus, include fixed differences in diagnostic sex-linked and autosomal allozymes as well as sex-linked diapause regulation, and sex-linked differences in oviposition behavior. Larval detoxification abilities for plants of the Salicaceae and Magnoliaceae families are dramatically different and basically diagnostic as well. The distinguishing morphological traits of the adults and larvae have not been genetically characterized. Here we describe the segregation of diagnostic larval banding traits in offspring from the 2 species in their hybrid and reciprocal backcross combinations. Elucidation of genetic basis, and linkage relationships of a suite of distinguishing biochemical, physiological, morphological, and ecological traits with regard to their geographic concordance across the hybrid zone is fundamental to understanding the pattern and process of speciation

Foodplant Processing Adaptations in Four \u3ci\u3eHyalophora\u3c/i\u3e Species (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae): Regional and Taxonomic Specialization

To determine whether local populations of four Hyalophora species (Lepidoptera: Satumiidae) had improved survival or were physiologically adapted for rapid and/or efficient growth on their local hosts, a series of larval feeding studies were conducted using gravimetric techniques on several host plant species. Significantly better survival and growth performances were observed for H. columbia (a tamarack specialist) on its host, Larix laricina. Similarly, H. gloveri had the best growth performance on Elaeagnus angustifolia (its favorite) as did certain sympatric populations of H. cecropia on black cherry, Prunus serotina. Hyalophora gloveri and H. columbia are largely sympatric with Betula papyrifera and perform better than their allopatric congeners H. cecropia in the east and H. euryalus in the west. While survival of the tamarack specialist was poor, all three of the other North American Hyalophora species survived and grew very well on choke cherry, Prunus virginiana, which is sympatric with all four Hyalophora species. The extent to which these are genetically based adaptations is not known, nor are the specific mechanisms of biochemical adaptation involved in these differential performances of larvae

Compensatory Feeding and Growth Responses of \u3ci\u3ePapilio Glaucus\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) Larvae Reared in Darkness.

The goal was to determine the potential impact of photoperiod on feeding behavior and larval growth rates. Larvae from six different families of the eastern swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus L. (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) were placed into 3 different photoperiod regimes (long days at 18:6 h, short days at 12:12 h, and total darkness at 0:24 h, all at 27°C) as neonate first instars and reared to pupation. The initial 11 days reflected very slow growth of the larvae in darkness (only half the weight of the long day larvae). No differences in survival at 4 days or 11 days or until pupation were evident between any treatments. Average time to pupation ( = total larval duration) was statistically identical between the treatments. However, despite their slow start during the first two instars, the larvae in complete darkness were able to increase their growth rates in the final 3 instars to such magnitude that they grew to the same final pupal size as those in the long day (and bigger than those in the short day) treatments. Such compensatory feeding and growth as a result of photoperiod has not previously been reported. Potential additional causes for such behavioral/physiological compensatory growth rates in caterpillars of other species are discussed

Phylloplane Sterilization With Bleach Does Not Reduce Btk Toxicity for \u3ci\u3ePapilio Glaucus\u3c/i\u3e Larvae (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

Neonate tiger swallowtail larvae (Papilio glaucus) were used to bioassay the effects of Btk (Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki) at 4 doses (0.268, 0.034, 0.008, and 0.004 BIU per cm leaf surface) with an untreated control. Larvae, obtained from females captured in Georgia and North Carolina, were fed leaves of either tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipfera) or black cherry (Prunus serotina) in experiments that either included a pre-treatment dip and rinse in 5% chlorox bleach or not, before the application of Btk (dipping leaves in serially diluted solutions of Foray 48B). The results show no difference between North Carolina and Georgia P. glaucus larval dosage sensitivities, but do illustrate a clear dosage effect for all 4 treatments (cherry with and without bleach pre-treatment; tulip tree with and without bleach pre-treatment). The larvae on the bleached leaves do not do better (for cherry or tulip tree host plant) as would be expected if microbial symbionts on the phylloplane synergize the Btk toxicity. These results show that Btk (at doses several thousand-fold less than aerial sprays across forests for gypsy moth control) will kill P. glaucus, with or without microbial synergism on leaf phylloplanes

Host Plant Suitability and a Test of the Feeding Specialization Hypothesis Using \u3ci\u3ePapilio Cresphontes\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

The concept that host plant favorites would be used for more rapid and/or efficient growth of the locally adapted individuals was tested in a preliminary way using the giant swallowtail butterfly, Papilio cresphontes. Populations feeding only on northern prickly ash, Zanthoxylum americanum (from Wisconsin), primarily (or exclusively) on hoptree, Ptelea trifoliata (in Ohio) and on lime prickly ash, Z. fagara, or Citrus, (in Florida) were compared on alternate hosts and on their actual local hosts under controlled environmental conditions. While the results with final instar larvae generally support the feeding specialization hypothesis with regard to more rapid and/or more efficient growth on local food plant favorites, we are hesitant to extrapolate these results to the species as a whole for several reasons dis- cussed herein