Abstract
Zonocerus variegatus L. (Pyrgomorphidae) is a polyphagous, aposematic, West African grasshopper, the dry season populations of which are nowadays a pest in agriculture and forestry. The insects seem to gain protection from predation by storing pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) from plant sources: (1) Bernays et al. (1977) reported storage of monocrotaline as the main PA in specimens reared on Crotalaria retusa (Fabaceae); (2) Boppré et al. (1984) found a close relative, Z. elegans, to be attracted to sources of dry PA-containing plants as well as to pure PAs, suggesting a pharmacophagous relationship of Zonocerus to PAs (cf. Boppré, 1986). In this paper, we report on sequestration of PAs by Zonocerus from the Siam weed, Chromolaena odorata King & Robinson (Asteraceae) and discuss a striking influence that secondary compounds of an introduced non-host plant can have on native insect populations.
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References
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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Boppré, M., Biller, A., Fischer, O.W., Hartmann, T. (1992). The non-nutrional relationship of Zonocerus (Orthoptera) to Chromolaena (Asteraceae). In: Menken, S.B.J., Visser, J.H., Harrewijn, P. (eds) Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Insect-Plant Relationships. Series Entomologica, vol 49. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1654-1_27
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1654-1_27
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