Chemical Ecology of Swallowtail Butterflies

本研究的长期目标是阐明植物化学在单一食草昆虫分类群蝴蝶科的生态和进化中所起的作用。重点放在通过雌性产卵识别植物的化学基础上。将对黑凤蝶（Papilio polyxenes）接触产卵刺激物的鉴定从胡萝卜（Daucus carota）扩展到其他伞形植物，以评估一种昆虫的化学反应谱的特异性。接触刺激物的鉴定也将在其近亲P. machaon的两个亚种上进行，它们显示了从蜂科到菊科（蒿属）的宿主转换的明显步骤。从马里斯托马属物种中鉴定与马里斯托马属远亲（Troidini部落）Battus philenor的接触刺激物将完成，随后将对第三个部落（Graphiini部落）的一种以亚洲为食的Eurytides marcellus进行类似的研究。这些比较研究将允许测试长期持有的假设，即燕尾蝶的适应性辐射受到对特定化合物的预适应的限制，这些化合物被用作宿主识别的行为线索。

The long-term goal of this research is to elucidate the roles played by plant chemistry in the ecology and evolution of a single taxon of herbivorous insects, namely the butterfly family Papilionidae. Emphasis is placed on the chemical basis of plant recognition by ovipositing females. Identification of contact oviposition stimulants for the black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes (tribe Papilionini), will be extended from carrot, Daucus carota, to other umbelliferous plants to assess the specificity of chemical response profiles in one insect species. Identification of contact stimulants will also be carried out with two subspecies of a close relative, P. machaon, which show apparent steps in a host switch from the Apiaceae to the Asteraceae (genus Artemisia). Identification of contact stimulants from Aristolochia species for Battus philenor, a more distant relative (tribe Troidini), will be completed and followed by similar studies with Eurytides marcellus, an Asimina-feeding species belonging to yet a third tribe (Graphiini). These comparative studies will permit testing of the long-held hypothesis that the adaptive radiation of swallowtail butterflies has been constrained by preadaptation to particular chemical compounds that are used as behavioral cues in host recognition.