Aspen Bibliography

Effects of the quaking aspen compounds catechol, salicin and isoniazid on two subspecies of tiger swallowtails

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

American Midland Naturalist

Volume

119

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

6

Publication Date

1988

Abstract

Metabolic costs incurred by the eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly Papilio glaucus canadensis in the processing of secondary compounds with known biological activity that occur in a favored food plant, quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), were compared with those for another subspecies, P. g. glaucus, that is not adapted to feeding on aspen. We conducted first instar survival assays and fourth instar feeding trials with catechol, salicin and isoniazid painted on a mutually acceptable food (leaves of Prunus serotina). None of the compounds significantly reduced survival of either subspecies. Growth of P. g. canadensis fed isoniazid was lower than that of control animals because of decreased efficiency in the conversion of digested food. Surprisingly, the three compounds did not reduce performance of P. g. glaucus larvae; growth and consumption rates as well as digestion/conversion efficiencies did not differ between the control and test diets. Our results indicate that these compounds are not responsible for the differential ability of the two subspecies to use quaking aspen; P. g. glaucus may have been preadapted to process the test compounds because of the occurrence of similar compounds in its normal food plants.

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