[自然百科] Butterflies Cure Themselves with Plants

Monarch butterflies can cure themselves and their offspring of disease by using medicinal plants, according to a new paper in the journal Ecology Letters.
The disease is caused by a protozoan parasite called Ophryocystis elektroscirrha. The parasite invades the gut  of the caterpillars and then persists when  the caterpillars become adult monarchs.

Project leader Jaap de Roode in eScience Commons today said, “We have shown that some species of milkweed, the larva’s food plants, can reduce parasite infection in the monarchs. And we have also found  that infected  female butterflies prefer to lay their eggs on plants  that will make  their offspring less sick, suggesting that monarchs have  evolved the  ability to medicate their offspring.”

Monarch caterpillar

Adult monarch butterfly

De Roode, assistant professor of biology at Emory University, said, "“We believe that  our experiments provide the best evidence to date that animals use  medication."

At Discovery News, we've touched on the topic before for other species. Spider monkeys, for example, are thought to have discovered a medicated body scratcher. But there are relatively few such studies on self-medication by animals.
(A sick monarch butterfly dying from the parasite)

In this case, there's added interest because the behavior is enacted by a creature that, despite its beauty, is fairly low on the food chain. Plus, the behavior is trans-generational, says Thierry Lefevre, a post-doctoral fellow in de  Roode’s lab. “While the mother is expressing the behavior, only her  offspring benefit.”
Health-related decisions made by non-human species could also potentially benefit us in future. For example, researchers like chemical ecologist Mark Hunter have been studying milkweed plants to determine their medicinal properties.

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