Pharmacophagy

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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 .

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