10.5061/DRYAD.69BJ8
Tao, Leiling
Emory University
Hoang, Kevin M.
Emory University
Hunter, Mark D.
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
de Roode, Jacobus C.
Emory University
Data from: Fitness costs of animal medication: antiparasitic plant
chemicals reduce fitness of monarch butterfly hosts
Dryad
dataset
2017
2017-05-31T00:00:00Z
2017-05-31T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12558
17725 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
The emerging field of ecological immunology demonstrates that allocation
by hosts to immune defence against parasites is constrained by the costs
of those defences. However, the costs of non-immunological defences, which
are important alternatives to canonical immune systems, are less well
characterized. Estimating such costs is essential for our understanding of
the ecology and evolution of alternative host defence strategies. Many
animals have evolved medication behaviours, whereby they use antiparasitic
compounds from their environment to protect themselves or their kin from
parasitism. Documenting the costs of medication behaviours is complicated
by natural variation in the medicinal components of diets and their
covariance with other dietary components, such as macronutrients. In the
current study, we explore the costs of the usage of antiparasitic
compounds in monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), using natural
variation in concentrations of antiparasitic compounds among plants. Upon
infection by their specialist protozoan parasite Ophryocystis
elektroscirrha, monarch butterflies can selectively oviposit on milkweed
with high foliar concentrations of cardenolides, secondary chemicals that
reduce parasite growth. Here, we show that these antiparasitic
cardenolides can also impose significant costs on both uninfected and
infected butterflies. Among eight milkweed species that vary substantially
in their foliar cardenolide concentration and composition, we observed the
opposing effects of cardenolides on monarch fitness traits. While high
foliar cardenolide concentrations increased the tolerance of monarch
butterflies to infection, they reduced the survival rate of caterpillars
to adulthood. Additionally, although non-polar cardenolide compounds
decreased the spore load of infected butterflies, they also reduced the
life span of uninfected butterflies, resulting in a hump-shaped curve
between cardenolide non-polarity and the life span of infected
butterflies. Overall, our results suggest that the use of antiparasitic
compounds carries substantial costs, which could constrain host investment
in medication behaviours.
Butterfly lifespan and sporeloadParasite treatment: 1- yes; 2-no; Plant
species: 1, asperula; 2, curassavica; 3, incarnata; 4, linaria; 5,
perennis; 6, physocarpa; 7, incarnata pulchra; 8,
tuberosaselection1.txtSurvival of butterfliesParasite treatment: 1- yes;
2-no; Plant species: 1, asperula; 2, curassavica; 3, incarnata; 4,
linaria; 5, perennis; 6, physocarpa; 7, incarnata pulchra; 8,
tuberosasurvival 1.txt