A Butterfly with no Natural Enemies
Faculty Mentor
Melissa Whitaker
Mentor Home Department
Biological Sciences
Short Abstract
Moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) have many natural enemies, including tiny parasitic wasps (parasitoids) that lay their eggs inside lepidopteran eggs and feed on the developing caterpillars inside. To defend themselves from natural enemies like parasitoids, lepidoptera have many defenses, including producing and storing toxins that kill developing parasitoid eggs. However, even chemically defended species like Monarch butterflies, for example, have specialized parasitoids that can tolerate these chemical defenses. I am investigating the atala butterfly (Eumaeus atala), a chemically defended species that has no known parasitoids, making it unique among Lepidoptera. I collected wild Eumaeus atala adults from their native habitat in southern Florida, and the butterflies are being kept in the lab to mate and lay eggs. I am currently conducting two behavioral assays, choice tests and no-choice tests, to measure oviposition rates and development of 3 species of parasitoid wasps on E. atala eggs and the eggs of an undefended butterfly species (Vanessa cardui). In addition, I am testing whether treatment with an oviposition stimulant (potassium chloride) can induce parasitoid oviposition into E. atala eggs. I expect that wasps will only oviposit in V. cardui eggs when eggs are untreated, but that they will accept treated eggs from both lepidopteran species. However, I do not expect that wasps will successfully develop inside the E. atala eggs. Results from these experiments will provide a better understanding of whether pre-oviposition cues or post-oviposition defenses (or both) are responsible for the apparent lack of parasitoids in E. atala.
Category
Science, Technology and Engineering
Start Date
5-4-2024 3:30 PM
End Date
5-4-2024 4:30 PM
Location
D.P. Culp Center Room 219
A Butterfly with no Natural Enemies
D.P. Culp Center Room 219
Moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) have many natural enemies, including tiny parasitic wasps (parasitoids) that lay their eggs inside lepidopteran eggs and feed on the developing caterpillars inside. To defend themselves from natural enemies like parasitoids, lepidoptera have many defenses, including producing and storing toxins that kill developing parasitoid eggs. However, even chemically defended species like Monarch butterflies, for example, have specialized parasitoids that can tolerate these chemical defenses. I am investigating the atala butterfly (Eumaeus atala), a chemically defended species that has no known parasitoids, making it unique among Lepidoptera. I collected wild Eumaeus atala adults from their native habitat in southern Florida, and the butterflies are being kept in the lab to mate and lay eggs. I am currently conducting two behavioral assays, choice tests and no-choice tests, to measure oviposition rates and development of 3 species of parasitoid wasps on E. atala eggs and the eggs of an undefended butterfly species (Vanessa cardui). In addition, I am testing whether treatment with an oviposition stimulant (potassium chloride) can induce parasitoid oviposition into E. atala eggs. I expect that wasps will only oviposit in V. cardui eggs when eggs are untreated, but that they will accept treated eggs from both lepidopteran species. However, I do not expect that wasps will successfully develop inside the E. atala eggs. Results from these experiments will provide a better understanding of whether pre-oviposition cues or post-oviposition defenses (or both) are responsible for the apparent lack of parasitoids in E. atala.