| Literature DB >> 11997469 |
Scott R Smedley1, Frank C Schroeder, Douglas B Weibel, Jerrold Meinwald, Katie A Lafleur, J Alan Renwick, Ronald Rutowski, Thomas Eisner.
Abstract
Larvae of the European cabbage butterfly, Pieris rapae (Pieridae), are beset with glandular hairs, bearing droplets of a clear oily secretion at their tip. The fluid consists primarily of a series of chemically labile, unsaturated lipids, the mayolenes, which are derived from 11-hydroxylinolenic acid. In bioassays with the ant Crematogaster lineolata, the secretion was shown to be potently deterrent, indicating that the fluid plays a defensive role in nature.Entities:
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Year: 2002 PMID: 11997469 PMCID: PMC124487 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.102165699
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A ISSN: 0027-8424 Impact factor: 11.205