The Fat Content of a Butterfly, Danaus Plexippus Linn., As Affected by Migration

Beall, Geoffrey

doi:10.2307/1930346

Cited by 57 publications

(29 citation statements)

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“…Highest body weights and lipid content occur in migratory or early colony monarchs and decline progressively during overwintering. This is similar to the situation reported for non-reproductive North American monarchs which show a gradual decline in lipid from September to the end of overwintering in March (Beall, 1948;Brown & …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…The source of nitrogen precursors necessary for protein synthesis is uncertain, although some nectars exploited by butterflies do contain amino acids (Baker & Baker, 1975). There are no recent data that compare lean dry weights of reproductive and nonreproductive North American monarchs, although Beall (1948) concluded that lean dry weights were constant between populations regardless of reproductive status. Lean dry weights of non-reproductive monarchs in the studies of Brown & Chippendale (1974), Tuskes &Brower (1978) andChaplin &Wells (1982) vary between 144 and 184 mg and are in general agreement with the values in this study for non-reproductive butterflies.…”

Section: Energy Reserves Of Australian Monarch Butterflies 427mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Spring and summer generations form extensive breeding populations and individuals contain only moderate fat reserves (Beall, 1948;Urquhart, 1960). Late summer and autumn generations do not develop sexually, but instead build up extensive fat reserves survivors containing only low-moderate lipid reserves at the end of winter (Tuskes & Brower, 1978;Chaplin &Wells, 1982).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phenology of weight, moisture and energy reserves of Australian monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus

James

1984

Ecological Entomology

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1. In the Sydney area of New South Wales, dry weights of reproductive monarch butterflies averaged 156 mg and were higher during winter than in other seasons. Dry weights of non-reproductive monarchs ranged from 216 t o 324 mg and declined by 1~2 5 % during overwintering.2. Fat in reproductive butterflies ranged from 0.009 to 0.017g/O.lg dry weight and was lower during winter than in other seasons. Fat content of nonreproductive monarchs washigher (0.019-0.037 g/O.1 g) and declined by 24-51% during overwintering.3. Lean dry weights of reproductive monarchs were lower than those of nonreproductive individuals. Lean dry weights of non-reproductive butterflies increased rapidly at the beginning of overwintering and remained high throughout the winter. Analysis of protein content indicated the higher lean weight of non-reproductive monarchs was due to greater protein levels.4. Moisture content of monarchs did not vary with season or reproductive status and appeared t o be correlated with ambient humidity. 5. Non-reproductive monarch butterflies in New South Wales adjust biochemically during overwintering. Energy reserve dynamics of these butterflies are comparable to those that occur in non-reproductive monarchs in North America.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Energy Reserves Of Australian Monarch Butterflies 427mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phenology of weight, moisture and energy reserves of Australian monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus

James

1984

Ecological Entomology

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“…Duration of flight, which could continue for several hours, was proportional to fat stores. The monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus plexippus which engages in continental migration (67, 68) similarly appears to utilize fats as fuel (69). Not unlike birds (161 to 165) this insect lays down large fat depots (125 per cent of the lean weight) in premigratory periods and no glycogen reserves are stored.…”

Section: Insectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Physiology: Fuel of Muscle Metabolism

Gi¹,

Ec²

1960

Annu. Rev. Physiol.

112

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“…Spring and summer generations form extensive breeding populations and individuals do not accumulate large lipid reserves (Beall 1948, Tuskes and Brower 1978, Walford 1980, , Brower 1985). In contrast, late summer and autumn generations do not mature sexually, but build up extensive lipid reserves as they migrate to overwintering areas in Mexico (Beall 1948, Brown and Chippendale 1974, Walford 1980, Brower 1985, Masters et al 1988, Calvert and Lawton 1993). These differences have also been found in monarch populations in California (Tuskes and Brower 1978, Chaplin and Wells 1982, ) and eastern Australia (, , ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Lipid Reserves by Monarch Butterflies Overwintering in Mexico: Implications for Conservation

Alonso-Mejía

Rendón-Salinas

Montesinos-Patiño

et al. 1997

Ecological Applications

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During their 5‐mo overwintering period in Mexico, tens of millions of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) form dense aggregations in forests dominated by oyamel fir trees (Abies religiosa). These forests provide a cool, moist environment that most monarchs use to maintain a state of reproductive diapause and to remain largely inactive until March, when they migrate back to the southern United States. In 1986, the Mexican government created the Monarch Butterfly Special Biosphere Reserve (MBSBR), but it is under pressure to allow forest extractions from core areas of the reserve. A recent argument to justify logging maintains that tree extraction would benefit monarchs by creating forest openings in which more plants would flower. The increased availability of nectar might mean that fewer monarchs would deplete their lipid contents, and therefore, more monarchs would survive the overwintering period. We investigated this hypothesis by comparing, throughout the overwintering period, lipid utilization and three other physical characteristics of monarch butterflies that were clustered on trees vs. monarchs that were collected while they visited flowers. Comparisons were also made with autumn migrants collected in Texas, successful spring migrants collected in the southern United States, and reproductively active summer generations collected in Wisconsin and Minnesota. We also examined changes in lipid mass during the annual cycle of eastern North American monarch populations. We found that clustered butterflies had significantly higher lipid mass, water content, lean mass, and larger wings than did monarchs collected from flowers. These differences were consistent throughout the overwintering period. Clustered monarchs consumed their lipid reserves passively in relation to the ambient temperature, as would be expected based on their resting metabolic rate. In contrast, a high proportion of flower‐visiting monarchs had lipid masses close to zero; very few had medium or high lipid levels. This suggests that flower‐visiting monarchs either maintained their lipid reserves at low levels by visiting flowers, but were unable to reach levels found in clustered monarchs, or that, as the flower‐visiting monarchs died, clustered monarchs with low lipid reserves departed from their roosting trees to visit flowers. Migrating monarchs collected in April in the southern United States had significantly higher lipid masses than did flower‐visiting monarchs collected in March at the overwintering site. Furthermore, migrating monarchs arrived in the southern United States with <50% of the lipid mass found in clustered, overwintering monarchs in March. Due to this apparent cost of migration, we hypothesize that the cohorts of monarchs visiting flowers at the overwintering site may not be able to migrate successfully to breeding areas in the southern United States. Our data do not support the hypothesis that there is a need to create open areas in the core zones of the MBSBR to promote flower production for monarchs overwintering in Me...

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The Fat Content of a Butterfly, Danaus Plexippus Linn., As Affected by Migration

Cited by 57 publications

References 2 publications

Phenology of weight, moisture and energy reserves of Australian monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus

Phenology of weight, moisture and energy reserves of Australian monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus

Comparative Physiology: Fuel of Muscle Metabolism

Use of Lipid Reserves by Monarch Butterflies Overwintering in Mexico: Implications for Conservation

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