Pharmacophagy
As pharmacophagy independent from the acquisition of food intake of chemical substances through is phytophage , so plant -eating, insect called. The absorbed substances are used primarily for their own defense against predators or for intra-species communication . The ingested plant substances are mainly secondary plant substances which, as pure substances, stimulate feeding on the animals.
The most frequently absorbed substances include the pyrrolizidine alkaloids , some of which are dissolved in crystalline form from dead plant material. Well-known pharmacophage species among the butterflies are the caterpillars of the Danainae species and the bear moth (Arctiidae) as well as the tobacco hawk , various types of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) and grasshoppers from the family Pyrgomorphidae .
literature
- Michael Boppré: Pharmacophagy: Drugs, Sex and Butterflies. Biology in our time 25 (1995): 8-17, doi: 10.1002 / biuz.19950250103 .
- Michael Boppré: Redefining “pharmacophagy” . J Chem Ecol 10 (1984): 1151-1154 ( PDF, 372 kB ).