Laboratory tests were conducted to establish the relative toxicity of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins and pollen from Bt corn to monarch larvae. Toxins tested included Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac, Cry9C, and Cry1F. Three methods were used: (i) purified toxins incorporated into artificial diet, (ii) pollen collected from Bt corn hybrids applied directly to milkweed leaf discs, and (iii) Bt pollen contamin...

Lipid composition of the fat body and haemolymph of male milkweed bug, On.cc@eltus fasciatus, was determined. Triglycerides were the predominant lipids of the fat body while diglycerides accounted for the major lipid in the haemolymph. Sterols, sterol esters, and non-esterified fatty acids were present in both fat body and haemoIymph besides triglycerides and diglycerides. Only traces of monogl...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Microsatellite primers were developed for the common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca L., to assist in genet identification and the analysis of spatial genetic structure. METHODS AND RESULTS Using an enrichment cloning protocol, eight microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized in a Michigan population of A. syriaca. The primers amplified di- and trinucleotide repeats ...

South Central US milkweeds (Asclepias) are critical adult nectar and larval food resources for producing the first spring last summer/fall generations of declining eastern migratory monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus). This study addresses multiple gaps in assessment conservation priorities through analyses host selectivity, phenology, spatial density, as well niche modeled distribution, lan...

That the lay public can react differently to the scientific literature than does the scientific community was dramatically demonstrated recently in the context of genetically manipulated organisms. The journal Nature, a high-profile journal with a reputation in both the lay and scientific communities for quality, includes, along with full-length reports, a section called “Scientific Corresponde...

An ethno-botanical survey of some threatened & endangered medicinal plants of milkweed family was undertaken by means of oral questionnaire. The aim of present survey is to collect information about these valuable plants of Asclepiadaceae used in the treatments of various ailments and to spot the knowledgeable traditional healers among different communities in rural areas of Bhilwara, Ajmer, Ud...

The bushhopper Phymateus leprosus (Fabricius) in the field shows a special appetite for the milkweed Asclepias fruticosa. Asclepiadaceae, like Apocynaceae and Scrophulariaceae, contain cardiac glycosides. Raw and purified extracts of these plants phagostimulate larval and adult P. leprosus. We also screened natural and half-synthetic compounds found in those plant extracts. While saponins and s...