AGRAULISANDPASSIFLORAII. BEHAVIOR AND SENSORY MODALITIES

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Abstract
The degree to which the Gulf Fritillary butterfly, A. vanillae incarnata (Riley) (Nymphalidae: Heliconiini), infests its passion-vine host-plants (Passifloraceae) depends primarily on the ovipositional behavior of the adult females. Consequently, postulated reciprocal coevolutionary interactions between the butterfly and its hosts should reflect the sensory modalities and behavior governing oviposition. Choice experiments in the laboratory indicate that gravid Agraulis females are attracted to oviposit near green, leaf-shaped objects, but that they do not exhibit either an innate or learned ability to discriminate various host-plant species or host from non-host solely on the basis of visual cues. Other laboratory experiments suggest that a combination of volatile and contact chemical cues determine a vine''s position on the butterflies'' ovipositional preference spectrum. Monitoring the orientation of tethered Agraulis females flying in variously labeled airstreams indicates that the odors of certain species of passion-vine elicit a positive anemotaxis. A mark-release-recapture study of Agraulis in Santa Barbara, California [USA] indicates that this response may act to "trap" adults on certain host vines and, consequently, divide the butterfly population into subpopulations each centered on a larval food resource. The degree of infestation of these vines then depends primarily on the balance of volatile and contact chemical stimulants and inhibitors of oviposition characteristic of that species of vine.

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