Table Of ContentVol. 10 No. 1-2 2003 (2005) SCRIBER and MARGRAF: Florida Persea and Papilio palamedes 49
HOLARCTIC LEPIDOPTERA, 10(1-2): 49-51 (2005)
SillTABILITY OF FLORIDA RED BAY AND SILK BAY
FOR PAPILID PALAMEDES BUTTERFLY LARVAE
(LEPIDOPTERA: PAPILIONIDAE)
J. MARK SCRIBER AND NICOLAS MARGRAFl
Dept.ofEntomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
ABSTRACT.-TheLauraceae·specialistswallowtail butterfly,PapiliopalamedesDrury,has neverbeenreported usingaprominenttreespecies likesilk bay(Persea
borboniavar.humilis,Lauraceae)incentralFlorida.Thistreegrowsinthecentralwhite,arid,sandyhabitatsanditsdensehairy/pubescentleavesdistinguishit from
theglabroushammock-dwellingredbay(Perseaborboniavar.borbonia)andthewetland/swamp-dwellingswampbay(Perseapaluslris).Weexaminedthesuitability
of these two plant species for larval survival and growth using split-brood bioassays. No significant differences in survival, pupal weight, overall duration of
development orgrowth rates wereobserved. Whatever preventssilkbayfrom beingusedas anatural hostfortheP. palamedes butterfly is notknown.
KEYWORDS: arid sand habitats, defenses, ecological monophagy, habitats, hostplants, Lauraceae, Magnoliaceae, Nearctic, North America, USA, wetlands.
In southern Florida, the Lauraceae-feeding swallowtail butter plants are common in the scrubs of the Ocala National Forest, in
flies, Papilio palamedes Drury and Papilio troilus Linnaeus north-central Florida. Silk bay, now treated as a variety of bay (P.
(Papilionidae) are basically confined to red bay (Persea borbonia borbonia) (Wunderlin, 1998), has been viewed previously as a
(L.) Spreng. var. borbonia) in the hammocks and swamp bay separate species (P. humilis) (see Nelson, 1994). We decided to
(Persea palustris (Ref.) Sarg.) in swamps and wetland habitats examine the leavesofsilk bay (P. borbonia var. humilis) relative to
where they occur (Scriber et aI., 1998; M. Minno, pers. comm.). red bay (P. borbonia var. borbonia) to see if the distinctive
Further northward in the eastern United States, sassafras (Sassafras morphological differencesofsilkbay leaves(densely pubescentand
albidiwn(Nutt.)Nees) and spicebush(Linclera benzoin(L.) Blume) silky on underside; Nelson, 1994)made them differentially suitable
(both Lauraceae) can serve as host plants for P. troilus and P. forswallowtailbutterflysurvivalandgrowth.Suchthickpubescence
palamedes, although the ability to usethese northern hosts is poorer might be a significant defensive adaptation against potential
forthe allopatric P. palamedes thanthesympatric P. troilus (Leder herbivores such as P. palamedes or primarilyjust an adaptation for
houseetaI., ]992).Thesetwo swallowtail species are notknown to leaf water conservation in their hot, arid habitats compared to the
utilize sassafras or spicebush in Florida (M. Minno, pers. comm.). coolerand wetbayheadsand hammockswherePerseaborboniaand
Even within a single species, it was observed that survival and P. palustris (and Magnolia virginiana) exist. Our test was a
growth of Florida P. troilus populations on red bay were signifi bioassay ofneonate larval survival and growth on the two varieties
cantly greater than Michigan and Ohio populations on this plant ofred bay.
(NitaoetaI., 1991).Papilio troilusalso frequently utilizetheexotic
but naturalized camphor tree (Camphora sp.). METHODS
Numerousliteraturerecordsincorrectlylistsweetbay(Magnolia
virginianaL.) (Magnoliaceae), orjust "bay" (which common name Adult females of P. palamedes from Highlands and Levy
can refer to a variety of plants), as putative hosts for P. palamedes Counties, Florida, were collected in late March to early April 1999
and P. troilus (Scriber, 1984). Howeverlarval survivalin no-choice and set up in revolving multi-choice oviposition arenas in front of
bioassaysisnon-existentandovipositionmistakesontotheMagnoli incandescentlightbulbs (on and offat 2hr intervals) to obtaineggs
aceae plantspeciesare minimal (Scriber, 1986;Scriberetal., 1991; (Scriber, 1993;ScriberetaI., 2001). Neonate larvaeoftwo families
Scriber et aI., 2001). (F37 and F44) were divided equally between two hostspecies to be
It has been shown thatneoliginins from the leaves ofMagnolia bioassayed. Groups of 3-8 larvae were carefully placed into petri
virginiana (sweet bay) are toxic to the Magnoliaceae-unadapted P. dishes (2.5cm x l5cm) with leaves on a sprig ofeither red bay or
troilus andP. palamedes(NitaoetaI., 1992), whilechemicalsinred silkbayinsertedinfloral aquapics tomaintain leafwaterandturgor.
bayaretoxicto the generalistPapilioglaucus larvae(Scriber, 1986) All dishes were maintained at room temperature in the air condi
and deterrent to the P. glaucus ovipositing females (Frankfater and tioned, invertebrate laboratory of the Archbold Biological Station
Scriber, 1999a; Frankfater and Scriber, 2003). In contrast, phyto near Lake Placid, Florida. The final few days of the feeding were
chemicals in red bay are attractive for both P. troilus and P. in ourlabatMichiganStateUniversity using Persea leaves brought
palamedes. backon icein zip-lock bags. Each larva was transferred to its own
The existence of a different shrubby lauraceous "bay" species individual dish when it reached the pupal stage. Survival on each
(silk bay, Persea borbonia var. humilis (Nash) L. E. Kopp) in the host was assessed at one to two day intervals as host leaves were
desert-like white sand scrub of central Florida (Wunderlin, 1998) changed and dishes cleaned. Total durations to pupation were
raisedthequestionofsuitabilityfortheLauraceae-adaptedP. troilus recorded for survivors. Pupal weights were recorded using a
and P. palamedes. No host records for either Papilio species exist Semi-Macro analytical balance. A follow-up study was conducted
for silk bay, and these two swallowtail species are rarely even seen at the Archbold Biological Station (28 Mar-2 Apr 2000) with P.
in such white sand scrub habitat (such as found at the Archbold palamedesandP. troilus females collected from LevyCounty, west
Biological Station in Highlands County, Florida). However, these ofAlachua Co., Florida.
Data are presented as a mean ± se. Significant differences are
'Current address: Institute of Zoology, University of Neuchatel, CH-2007
indicated (p = 0.05). Plant voucher specimens of both Lauraceae
Neuchatel, Switzerland.
50 SCRIBER and MARGRAF: Florida Persea and Papilio palamedes HOLARCTIC LEPIDOPTERA
Table 1.Larvalgrowth performanceoftwo Floridafamilies ofPapiliopa/amedeson two redbay (Persea borbonia) varieties
(Lauraceae). Data presented as a mean (±s.e.) (Highlands Co., FL).
number Pupal mass TotalDuration Overal1Growth Rate
Host plant ofpupae (g) (d) (g/d)
var. humilis 10 1.37 29.5 .047
(silkbay) ±.04 ± 0.5 ±.OOI
var. borbonia 12 1.46 30.1 .049
(redbay) ±.06 ±l.l ±.001
T-test* (n.s.) (n.s.) (n.s.)
p=.226 P=.664 P=.389
* No significant differences between means on different plants (n.s.; p= 0.23, 0.66, 0.39 respectively t-tests on pupal mass,
total durations and growth rate.
species have been deposited in the herbarium research collectionof leaves of Lauraceae host species (Scriber, 1996a). Preliminary
JMS at Michigan State University. results from 2000 suggest that this may at least partically explain
the lack ofany field host records ofeggs or larvae on silk bay.
RESULTS The chemical suitability of tree leaves for larval survival and
growth is a function of leaf water, nitrogen, allelochemicals,
Contrary to our predictions, the overall survival of neonate minerals, and their interactions (Scriber, 1977, 1984; Mattson and
larvae to pre-pupae in 1999 was basically the same for larvae of Scriber, 1987). The physical texture, toughness, hairiness, spines,
Papi/io pa/amedes on red bay, Persea borbonia var. borbonia andtrichomes arealso offundamental importanceforthe hostplant
(70.6%) as on the silk bay, Persea borbonia var. humi/is (61.1%) suitability (Scriber and Slansky, 1981; Finke and Scriber, 1988).
(Fig. 1). Furthermore, the final pupal weights, total durations and Despite the fundamental chemicalconstraints upon theevolutionof
overall growth rates (neonate to pupa) were also virtually identical hostplantpreferencesandusage patterns(Feeny, 1995), otherbiotic
between split broods (on different Persea species) of two families factors such as natural enemies (Bernays and Graham, 1988;
of P. pa/amedes larvae (Table 1). However, in 2000, females of Scriber, 1998; Redman and Scriber, 2000) and abiotic factors such
both P. pa/amedes and P. troUus showed strong oviposition as seasonal thermal unit (growing degree day) constraints (Scriber
preference for red bay versus silk bay. All P. pa/amedes (n = 4) and Lederhouse, 1992; Scriber, 1996b; Nylin and Janz, 1999) can
preferred red bay (163 total eggs) versus silk bay (15 total eggs). affect local host specificity. While we don't know why silk bay is
Furthermore, neonate larvae grew poorly on silk bay (only one of apparently not used as a host for either P. troi/us or P. pa/amedes
28 survived the 1st instar) and grew well on red bay (35 of 37 butterflies, wedo know that for thelatteritis notdueto physiologi
survived the 1st instar). cal unsuitability for larvae.
DISCUSSION ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The extensive and dense hairiness on leaves of the silk bay This research was supported in part by the Michigan State University
(Persea borboniavarhumi/is)andtheirdesert-likewhitesandshrub Agricultural ExperimentStation (ProjectMAES#1644). Weareextremely
thankful for the permission to use the Archbold Biological Station and
habitats of central contrast rather dramatically with the smooth,
HighlandsHammockStateParkfacilitiesduringourstudies.Special thanks
more glabrous leaves of upland red bay (Persea borbonia var.
are extended to Mark Deyrup and Jennifer Donovan for their assistance.
borbonia)and swamp bay(Perseapalustris) whicharefound in the
Mark Minna, Gainesville, Florida, provided a very helpful review and
wettestswamps,forests, andhammocksthroughoutFlorida(Preston,
insightintothetaxonomicconfusionregardingthethreebayspecies(Persea
1976; Nelson, 1994). The Lauraceae-specialized swallowtail
sp.) in Florida.
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