Fate of cocaine in the lymantriid Eloria noyesi, a predator of Erythroxylum coca

Abstract

Larvae of the lymantriid moth Eloria noyesi, which are obligate feeders on Erythroxylum coca, excrete most of the ingested cocaine as unchanged base. Cocaine, analysed by mass fragmentography, is readily, detectable in the blood of larvae and is presumably sequestered during larval feeding, since it is present in the bodies of adult moths that do not feed on E. coca. Cocaine is an effective feeding deterrent for the ant Monomorium pharaonis when present at a concentration below that found in the leaves of E. coca. © 1981.