Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford university, 94305, Stanford, California.
J Chem Ecol. 1984 Nov;10(11):1567-77. doi: 10.1007/BF00988425.
Larvae of the buckeye,Junonia coenia (Nymphalidae) feed primarily on plants in four families: Scrophulariaceae, Plantaginaceae, Verbenaceae, and Acanthaceae. These plant families have in common the presence of a group of plant secondary compounds, the iridoid glycosides. Larvae were reared on three plant species and two artificial diets, one with and one without iridoid glycosides.Larvae grew poorly and had low survivorship on the artificial diet without iridoid glycosides, while growth and survival on the artificial diet with iridoid glycosides was comparable to that on plants. Choice tests using artificial diets with and without iridoid glycosides showed that larvae: (1) chose diets with iridoid glycosides (in the form of a crude extract or pure compound) over a diet without; (2) showed no preference between the diet with the crude extract and that with pure iridoid glycoside, and (3) preferred the artificial diet with ground leaves of the host plant,Plantago lanceolata, over the diet with pure iridoid glycosides. The artificial diet that larvae had been reared on prior to these tests had no effect on subsequent larval preferences in the choice tests.
美洲眼蝶（Junonia coenia）的幼虫主要以玄参科（Scrophulariaceae）、车前科（Plantaginaceae）、马鞭草科（Verbenaceae）和爵床科（Acanthaceae）的植物为食。这些植物科的共同点是含有一组植物次生化合物，即环烯醚萜苷。幼虫在三种植物物种和两种人工饲料上进行饲养，一种含有环烯醚萜苷，另一种则不含。幼虫在不含环烯醚萜苷的人工饲料上生长不良且存活率低，而在含有环烯醚萜苷的人工饲料上的生长和存活率与在植物上的相似。使用含有和不含有环烯醚萜苷的人工饲料进行的选择试验表明，幼虫：（1）选择含有环烯醚萜苷（以粗提物或纯化合物的形式）的饲料而不是不含环烯醚萜苷的饲料；（2）在含有粗提物的饲料和含有纯环烯醚萜苷的饲料之间没有偏好；（3）更喜欢含有美洲眼蝶宿主植物——车前草（Plantago lanceolata）的磨碎叶片的人工饲料，而不是含有纯环烯醚萜苷的饲料。幼虫在这些试验之前所饲养的人工饲料对后续的幼虫选择偏好试验没有影响。
