1. The chemical defences of monarch butterflies involve two kinds secondary plant metabolites: cardiac glycosides (CGs) that are obtained from larval hostplants, and pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) gathered by adults usually independent feeding behaviour. While monarchs CGs have received great attention, PAs appear largely ignored in science as well the public. 2. We review discuss PA-pharmacopha...

Aposematic organisms warn predators of their unprofitability using a combination defenses, including visual warning signals, startling sounds, noxious odors, or aversive tastes. Using multiple lines defense can help prey avoid by stimulating senses and/or acting at different stages predation. We tested the efficacy three (color, smell, taste) during predation sequence aposematic wood tiger moth...

Self-medication is a specific therapeutic behavioral change in response to disease or parasitism. The empirical literature on self-medication has so far focused entirely on identifying cases of self-medication in which particular behaviors are linked to therapeutic outcomes. In this study, we frame self-medication in the broader realm of adaptive plasticity, which provides several testable pred...