Insights into the unique butterfly-lichen association between Talicada nyseus nyseus and Leproloma sipmanianum

Figures & data

Figure 1.  K. pinnata growing beside proterozoic rocks with the L. sipmanianum in Beragala, Sri Lanka.

Table 1 Content of compounds in the lichen L. sipmanianum.

Lichen compounds	Weight percentage (%)*
Atranorin 4	0.238
Zeorin 1	0.089
β-Sitosterol 2	0.064
Tritetracontylpentanoate 3	0.002
3, 6-Dimethyl-2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzoic acid 6	0.019
(+)-Usnic acid 5	0.007
*Based on the dry weight of the lichen.

Figure 2.  The lichen specific aromatic compounds atranorin 4, (+)-usnic acid 5, 3,6-dimethyl-2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzoic acid 6 common to the butterfly T. nyseus nyseus and the lichen L. sipmanianum.

Figure 3.  HPLC of:(a)wild-caught adults (b)typical pro .les of larvae,pupae and larval waste collected from Beragala (c)authentic compounds isolated from the lichen.

Table 2 Content of lichen compounds in wild-caught specimens (imagines, larvae, larval waste and pupae) and the laboratory reared specimens of T. nyseus nyseus.

Collection date	Specimen	Compounds#
February, 2003	Larvae	(1), (2), (3), (4), (6)
February, 2003	Pupae	(1), (2), (3), (4), (6)
February, 2003	Larval waste	(1), (2), (3), (4), (6)
February, 2003	Adult	(1) (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)
May, 2003	Larvae	(1), (2), (3), (4), (6)
May, 2003	Larval waste	(1), (2), (3), (4), (6)
May, 2003	Adult	(1) (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)
May 2003*	Adult	(2)
August, 2003 **	Adult	(2)
Zeorin 1; β-Sitosterol 2; Tritetracontylpentanoate 3; Atranorin 4; (+)-Usnic acid 5; 3, 6-Dimethyl-2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzoic acid 6; ^#Detected by HPLC and TLC (see Experimental); *Collected in Peradeniya; **Collected in Kandy, Central Province, Sri Lanka.

Table 3 Average life-time (days) of different stages of T. nyseus nyseus reared on K. pinnata and K. laciniata.

Experiment	(a)	(b)	(c)
Egg to larvae	3–7^a*	2–8^a	2–5^a
Larvae to pupae	14–16^a	3–14^a	10–12^a
Pupae to adult	9–12^a	5–12^a	7–10^a
Adult life span	9–16^a	4–7^b	10–13^a
Average number of eggs/female	40^a	26^b	37^c
Experiments (a) Cages with T. nyseus nyseus rearing on potted K. pinnata plants along with cotton receptacles soaked in 10 M sugar solution and bees’ honey; (b) Cages with T. nyseus nyseus rearing on potted K. pinnata plants along with water only; (c) Cages with T. nyseus nyseus rearing on potted K. laciniata plants along with cotton receptacles soaked in 10 M sugar solution and bees’ honey. ^*Values with the same letters are not significantly different. Data were analysed using statistical software MINITAB 14 at p=0.05.