Abstract
Flavonoid pigments have been identified in the swallowtail butterfly Eurytides marcellus and its larval foodplant Asimina triloba (Annonaceae). Although quercetin 3-glycoside, quercetin 3-rutinoside and quercetin 3-rutinoside-7-glucoside are present in the plant, only quercetin 3-glucoside is sequestered by the insect. Flavonoids have also been found in 10 out of 27 other papilionid species examined. These were mainly 3- and 7-glycosides of the flavonols quercetin and kaempferol. The sequestration of flavonoids by papilionid butterflies appears to be related both to the phylogeny of the Papilionidae and to the choice of larval foodplants by the various phylogenetic groups.
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