Host-plant pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Nyctemera annulata Boisduval: Their persistence through the life-cycle and transfer to a parasite

Abstract

Larvae of Nyctemera annulata Boisduval ingest pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Senecio spathulatus A. Rich. which subsequently appear in the adult months and their eggs; the acquisition of the alkaloids by a parasite of the N. annulata larvae provides a further illustration of their ability to persist in insects. © 1979 Birkhäuser Verlag.