ON THE POLYMORPHISM OF CYANOGENESIS IN LOTUS CORNICULATUS. I. SELECTION BY ANIMALS

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In 1960 a significant excess of L. corniculatus plants growing in wild populations which were found to have been eaten were acyanogenic. The slugs Arion ater L. and Agriolimax reticulatus Mull., the snails Helix aspersa Mull. and Arianta arbustorum Leach and the vole Microtus agrestis L. have been shown to eat acyanogenic or weakly cyanogenic L. corniculatus in preference to strongly cyanogenic plants. The vole was selective only when an adequate alternative food supply was available. The predation of L. corniculatus by various animals appears to be part of the mechanism by which the polymorphism of the cyanogenic glucoside in maintained.