Lepidoptera Lovers: Butterfly Kisses

[beautress]

Areas where Podophylum peltatum grows:

It shows it growing in Walker County, where the Sam Houston National Forest is partially located. I saw a lot more of pictures showing clumps of Mayapples growing in wooded, near sunless areas.

American Mayapple Fruit (Scientific name is Podophyllum peltatum L.)

Podophyllum - Wikipedia​

Badger2, on the chance you might share your knowledge or learn from theirs, I am including the Wikipedia article's bibliography in the hopes the links are current. I pray you all have a lot in common scientifically. I'm glad to know that both plants are know to grow in my count after looking at the maps, but I'm sure they'd love to know what you do about this unique plant:

References[edit]

1. ^ 1896 illustration from Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen
2. ^ The Plant List, Podophyllum peltatum L.
3. ^ Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 1: 505 in Latin
4. ^ Tropicos, Podophyllum L.
5. ^ Jump up to: a b Flora of North America, Vol. 3, Podophyllum Linnaeus
6. ^ "Podophyllum peltatum". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 28 March 2015.
7. ^ Plants for a Future, retrieved 28 March 2015
8. ^ "Podophyllum L.". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
9. ^ Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution map
10. ^ http://www.eattheweeds.com/podophyllum-peltatum-forgotten-fruit-2/
11. ^ Podophyllum peltatum at USDA PLANTS Database
12. ^ Watson, M.A. and five others. 2001. The developmental ecology of mycorrhizal associations in mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum, Berberidaceae. Evolutionary Ecology 15: 425–442.
13. ^ "Puccinia podophyllin Schwein. Mayapple rust". Iowa State University, Ada Hayden Herbarium (ISC). Retrieved 2013-03-16.
14. ^ Bunyard, Britt A. 2013 "Mayapple Rust Resurrection" FUNGI 6(1): 38–39.
15. ^ Blanchan, Neltje (2002). Wild Flowers: An Aid to Knowledge of our Wild Flowers and their Insect Visitors. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
16. ^ Moraes, R.M., H. Lata, E. Bedir, M. Maqbool, and K. Cushman. 2002. On American Mayapple as a practical source of podophyllotoxin p. 527–532. In: J. Janick and A. Whipkey (eds.), Trends in new crops and new uses. ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA.
17. ^ Jump up to: a b Ernest Small and Paul M. Catling (1999), "Podophyllum peltatum L. (May-apple)", Canadian Medicinal Crops, NRC Research Press
18. ^ Brunton LL et al. Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, chapter: 61. Cytotoxic agents/Epipodophyllotoxins Twelfth Edition ISBN 978-0-07-162442-8
19. ^ Lewis, W.H. and M.P.F. Elvin-Lewis. 1977. Medical Botany. Plants Affecting Man's Health. Wiley, New York. 515 p. p. 123-124.

External links[edit]

• Media related to Podophyllum at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Podophyllum at Wikispecies

Well, fiddlesticks. The links don't work, but the same links do work at the bottom of this page: Podophyllum - Wikipedia
I bet you know what these folks might care to know if they don't already. Sorry for being a rank amateur in the scientific community.

Well the links worked once I posted them, but didn't work in my posting field. lol

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[badger2]

Yes, may haw tree is Crataegus species, and mayapple is Podophyllum, a plant. So the previous question is if anyone that you know of used the mayapple fruit or other parts of the plant in answer to the question of geography and cancer that you brought up.

 

[badger2]

One butterfly that eats anti-cancer mayapple is Euptoieta claudia.

Euptoieta claudia
Euptoieta claudia - Wikipedia

 

[beautress]

Yes, may haw tree is Crataegus species, and mayapple is Podophyllum, a plant. So the previous question is if anyone that you know of used the mayapple fruit or other parts of the plant in answer to the question of geography and cancer that you brought up.

They're on the map, but I haven't been to the forest in a few years, and have only the vaguest memory of seeing some plants that were covering the forest floor like those ones, although so vague, I really didn't make a mental note of it. And I just got into my narrow little world of fibromyalgia treatment with homeopathic remedies, I hadn't noticed that plant as a treatment. I've just become fascinated with the plants as if about 3 years ago when thev local good will stores got overpublications of books like " herbal cures and what they do." and "kitchen cures" ( I studied nutrition in college. That just lit my fire after getting fibro, a disease the doctors in Wyoming didn't know how to treat well enough without keeping you out of pain with relieving you of the use of your brain, so instead of taking it, I just put up with a lot of pain for 15 years until I got some books that gave hope and helped me minimize the pain for the first time in all those years of pain 24/7/52/365, no breaks in the screaming out loud pain. Now it's pass the pepper and other stuff! When we moved back to Texas, my new doctor was an osteopath, took some samples of blood, and said, let's get another test, your calcium is high. Well that was high, too, so she ordered a cat scan of my neck, discovered 2 bad parathyroids of the four, and surgery removed the bad ones. It took a year for all the bone spurs and whatever to settle out of my system, and I am pain free, but not free of all the other treacherous little demons that follow autoimmune diseases. Anyhow, that's why this subject just fascinates me--all about plants, and when you connected butterflies with diseases, it got my curiosity up, though I don't quite understand all the words, your details are excellent. When I was browsing the internet for a few more hours with re to the May apples and the May haws, I landed on one server that brought up 20 different plants (including the may apple) that cure diseases, and I found one to work on my bronchitis with. It was called "aloe vera." I though if it cures lung cancer, it may get rid of my chronic bronchitis. I stopped coughing 3 hours after imbibing in some aloe vera juice purchased a couple of weeks ago, and I mixed it with berry juice cocktail I had on hand to dilute it as directed. You're supposed to go lightly on aloe vera, so first thing before I go to bed tonight, I'm taking a lesser dose with honey water. Local honey is supposed to help build the immune system, so that's all I've bought to sweeten tea with for the last 2 years since I came across all this information, which occasionally sends me out to look up stuff like "health benefits of celery..." lol I should be taking that to prevent ankle swelling due to circulatory problems that make my life sedentary, unfortunately.

Thanks for your more than amazing posts, badger2, and may you find a lot more cures from studying them with such selfless devotion to what is going on with this animal that results in......(fill in the blank.) It would never have otherwise occurred to me that animal issues or their omission of this issue and connected it with botanical appetites for certain plants and to apply a little common sense to see whether it would be beneficent to human beings. Now, when it rains hard, my computer goes out till it stops, so for the last couple of days, it just automatically stops when I hear the rain pounding on the metal roof, and it makes quite a clatter. Hopefully in a couple of days when the sun is due back for a day or two, the Lepidoptera kingdom will domino into visions of flight again. About 4 years ago, Walker County had a fritillary year, and I just walked in a daze around my little 14 acre plot of weeds, springs, Freedom Lake, (aka kidney-bean shaped pond), and trees galore, with seasonal creeks on both sides of the narrow strip the acreage is located on. There were more than one species, and one was so jaw-dropping beautiful I could hardly believe my eyes. Our gulf coast frittilaries are flit about with a wingspan of about 3.5"x1.25". They will actually light on the tall purple flowers that came up out of nowhere that year, but were gone the next year, along with most of the fritillaries that were thick in the thicket. I'll see if I can find some similar fritillaries, and I'm sorry I don't know all their names, just that I love seeing them mid-summer on good luck years when the right flowers are growing. The really drop dead good looking ones took to those over-head-tall purple weedy flowers. Oh, and the flowers were the best perfume bar none that I ever inhaled.

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[beautress]

 

[badger2]

What causes the silver spots? Gulf fritillary Agraulis vanillae, feeds on Passiflora, passionfruit (in Florida), Corchorus (in Jamaica) and Lonicera honeysuckle (in Brazil). All three host plants have connections to medicine:

2016 Lonicera hypoglauca Breast Cancer Silver Nanoparticles
In-vitro anticancer activity of green synthesized silver nanoparticles on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. - PubMed - NCBI

2018 Corchorus Gold Nanoparticles for 3 Cancer Types
Successful Green Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles using a Corchorus olitorius Extract and Their Antiproliferative Effect in Cancer Cells. - PubMed - NCBI

Passion Fruit Imaging for Cancer Diagnosis
Dual photoacoustic/ultrasound multi-parametric imaging from passion fruit-like nano-architectures. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[beautress]

Yes, may haw tree is Crataegus species, and mayapple is Podophyllum, a plant. So the previous question is if anyone that you know of used the mayapple fruit or other parts of the plant in answer to the question of geography and cancer that you brought up.

I don't know of anyone, badger2.

 

[badger2]

One answer to your question of whether there is cancer where mayapple grows is found in Maine's Penobscot Indians, who did get cancer and also used mayapple against it. A Penobscot anti-cancer moth would be Papaipema rutila.

Papaipema rutila Map
mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/species.php?hodges=9484

P. cerina Map
mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/species.php?hodges=9464

 

[beautress]

One answer to your question of whether there is cancer where mayapple grows is found in Maine's Penobscot Indians, who did get cancer and also used mayapple against it. A Penobscot anti-cancer moth would be Papaipema rutila.

Papaipema rutila Map
mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/species.php?hodges=9484

P. cerina Map
mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/species.php?hodges=9464

You are totally amazing, badger2. Awesome post. thanks.

 

[beautress]

In the meantime, I was just thinking that there probably isn't a child in the local school system that doesn't know that the Monarch butterfly protects itself (and has for eons we humans know little of) by gravitating toward a plant that is poisonous inside and beautiful outside, the lovely milkweed plant that is hardy from Mexico up to Canada. And I found a website that answers the question of "How do butterflies protect themselves?" My guess is this is only a partial list, because other than their showy wings, butterflies do not shout out all their secrets of survival, although the use means we humans could profit from if we were as sensitive to their thinking as badger2 is:

Butterflies use warning colors and concentrations of poison within their bodies to ward off predators.
They also utilize camouflage, large eye spots, mimicry and flight to avoid being eaten.​

Poisonous butterflies, such as monarch butterflies, consume toxic plants. In the case of the monarch, the toxic plant of choice is milk weed. The butterflies are immune to the poison, but they sequester it in their bodies rather than excrete it, so that if a predator eats them, they become sick and develop an aversion to any other butterfly that resembles the one that made them ill.

Poisonous butterflies have flashy wings to reinforce the association between appearance and illness. Some non-poisonous butterflies mimic the appearance of poisonous ones to imply that they too make predators sick.

Other species have enormous spots on their wings that resemble eyes. These eye spots make the animal look much larger when their wings are spread, scaring off and surprising potential predators.

Some butterfly wings are designed to resemble vegetation or tree bark. Some species even have transparent wings. These adaptations serve as camouflage, making it easy for the insects to avoid predators by going unseen.

Finally, butterflies can be fast fliers, and their distinct fluttering motion makes it difficult for predators to determine where they will go next, making pursuit difficult. Butterflies called skippers have been recorded at more than 30 miles per hour.

How Do Butterflies Protect Themselves?

Variegated Fritillary
Euptoieta Claudia

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Euptoieta claudia, the variegated fritillary, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Even though the variegated fritillary has some very different characteristics from the Speyeria fritillaries, it is still closely related to them. Some of the differences are: variegated fritillaries have two or three broods per year vs. one per year in Speyeria; they are nomadic vs. sedentary; and they use a wide range of host plants vs. just violets. And because of their use of passionflowers as a host plant, variegated fritillaries also have taxonomic links to the heliconians. Their flight is low and swift, but even when resting or nectaring, this species is extremely difficult to approach, and, because of this, its genus name was taken from the Greek word euptoietos meaning "easily scared".

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[beautress]

The variegated frittilary also has interesting differences in cocoons and eggs, too.

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[badger2]

The info above for Euptoieta claudia (variegated fritillary), does not seem to mention an important link to the toxic monarch, Danaus plexippus. The link is via the Milkweed family, Asclepiadaceae, that we found last year to connect the fritillary to Arizona, because mayapples stop occurring past Texas (on the east-west axis). The host plants that link monarch to fritillary are:

Danaus plexippus hostplants include Cynanchum angustifolium and C. laeve (Asclepiadaceae).

Euptoieta claudia hostplants include Cynanchum arizonicum (Asclepiadaceae).

The variations of color in the E. claudia chrysalis (shown above) seem more varied in comparison to the monarch chrysalis, and the former is an authentic anti-cancer butterfly (hostplants include mayapple, Podophyllum.)

 

[beautress]

Thanks, badger2. Today it was a nice day, and I took my Kubota tractor/grass trimmer to the back of my little 14 acres, fijorded the floodplain area to trim along the fencelines that are all grown up with you-name-it young trees, a couple I recognize as like oak variations, and others. As I was crossing the uncut hayfield to get to the back fence, I noticed these huge black fuzzy caterpillars everywhere, and when I saw one, I quit mowing the area in case they were some kind of butterfly. Another area I quit mowing was when I saw this strange little black butterfly criss-crossing on the ground, probably because the Kubota shakes the ground a little it is so loud. I got off the mower to look at him, but he was just thrashing about on the ground, although I had not mowed that area (and left it, too). He was about 2 1/4 inches (estimated wingspan), maybe a little less or more, but his wings were hunched down, as the little critter was a little greater than an inch, but less than an inch and a half (I have a quilter's eye for fabrics, since I daily cut 1 1/2" strips for my favorite work in log cabin squares.) Anyway, there he was, and I looked around after that to see if there were any other small black fellows--oh, yes and he had a very plain but quite obvious line along the lower edges of his wing that was the color of Dijon spiced mustard, which is a darkish, dull gold color. I thought for such a tiny little guy he was exquisite in every way, and he really did not like the Kubota's noise, so I edged outta there as quickly as I could, blades off and raised high in a wide circle so as not to crush the cute little feller. I think he may have been "puddling" as to why he was on the ground rather than flying around. They say male butterflies puddle, sometimes in colonies, but I didn't see another butterfly for the rest of the day. And now it's night. I hope I didn't reduce too much habitat of butterflies by making "walk paths" across the land in case I feel like walking around there in the next few days. Out here in Texas land, we have all kinds of bugs, spiders, and snakes, but I saw numerous of these, and didn't know what they'd turn into-- 2 1/2 - 3 inch black fuzzy caterpillars -- longer than this one for the same girth:

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For once I didn't know if these caterpillars became the little guy I saw (I doubt it) or if they were black swallowtails or something.

I found a moth that looks like this, except at the base where you see a white edge, the edge was dull gold or beige, called Chimney Sweeper:

Chimney Sweeper - Odezia atrata

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Why would I be seeing a chimney sweeper moth with a gold band at the bottom row of his wings in the Piney Woods region, on a farm plot, in East Texas? hmmm. Chimney Sweeper - Odezia atrata . Seems there has to be an American counterpart, and I only saw one this morning, not too early, either. But it was on the ground not far from the metal barn. hmm. He was a charmer, too.

 

[beautress]

The info above for Euptoieta claudia (variegated fritillary), does not seem to mention an important link to the toxic monarch, Danaus plexippus. The link is via the Milkweed family, Asclepiadaceae, that we found last year to connect the fritillary to Arizona, because mayapples stop occurring past Texas (on the east-west axis). The host plants that link monarch to fritillary are:

Danaus plexippus hostplants include Cynanchum angustifolium and C. laeve (Asclepiadaceae).

Euptoieta claudia hostplants include Cynanchum arizonicum (Asclepiadaceae).

The variations of color in the E. claudia chrysalis (shown above) seem more varied in comparison to the monarch chrysalis, and the former is an authentic anti-cancer butterfly (hostplants include mayapple, Podophyllum.)

Thanks, badger2. Sorry I missed you earlier today. A friend came over and helped me fish my zero turn mower next to Freedom Lake off the small woodpile I landed on 2 weeks ago, trying to put a narrow patch where I could sneak around and watch my family of great egrets return (if it ever stops raining here). I saw one regular egret, a first timer at Freedom lake, unless I was looking at a junior member of the Great egrets who rule Freedom lake in hot weather. They walk the edges of the deeper side of the small lake (2 1/2 acres), and they do not care too much for close human company, so I try to stay out of sight when I'm admiring them.

Oh, and I've had a fruitless chase trying to find an Odezia group in North America, Piney woods area of Texas, and can't find anyone else who saw one. So I may have been looking at a different specie, I made all the mental notes I could and noticed his antennae were thin and long like a butterfly's, but his wingset looked like a moth, plus he was flitting in the midday sun on the grass, which was still heavy with dew since we have only had 2 dry days this week and this was the second one. Well, my search was fruitless and it's getting late.

I found a tribute page to George T. Austin, Lepodopterist: Memorial to George T. Austin [1943-2009]

I'll look up an assortment of butterflies before heading upstairs to melatonin-land.

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[Likkmee]

Lemme kick this up a dozen notches

 

[beautress]

Lemme kick this up a dozen notches

Lovely blue morphos, Likkmee. I wondered what their origin was.
I loved that movie & it's somewhere in my bazillion-dvd collection...

 

[beautress]

Blue morphos, wonder what kind of plants and flowers they might like if they were brought to the region of the Great Piney Woods...

 

[Likkmee]

Blue morphos, wonder what kind of plants and flowers they might like if they were brought to the region of the Great Piney Woods...

No. That " tree of life" is in Tenorio national park on Rio Celeste in Alejuela province, Costa Rica. About 2 hours by car or 45 minutes on horseback from my house.I've seen it like the video. Thousands of morpho laying eggs there.
I suspect Cobalt and many other minerals from the Tenorio volcano( dormant) still "litter" the water because the lizards and snakes and some other insects take on that blue coloration. Those pics aint photoshop. That water is actually that color and the butterfly is damn near scary the first time you see one. Stunning.
Maybe that where smurfs came from too ?
It's a tough walk to the fall unless your tough. The river is easily accessed from the main road to Upala and there's a bunch of cheapo cabins and stuff along the way from Guatuso north to lake Nicaragua. The electric and roads are sketchy at best. 4WD, flashlights, rain gear and GPS are a must.
Oddly internet is in every inch of the place .....varies from 500k to 6 or even 10 mb....depending.
I just pulled in my coffee farm. Bedtime and raining to beat Hell.

 

[beautress]

That sounds like a beautiful place,Likeme.. I've seen the tree before online in pictures. I have to look at butterflies at least one day out of every couple of weeks. lol

Common Name: Blue Morpho Butterfly

Type: Insect
Family: Nymphalidae​

Range: The most amazing insect in the tropical rainforests of Central America and South America. Blue Morpho is found mainly in forests Throughout the U.S., Mexico, and Costa Rica. It has amazing and beautiful blue wings that can reflect light.

Size: Blue Morpho grow up to approximately 5 – 6 inches wide.

Diet: The blue morpho’s diet changes throughout each stage of its life. As a caterpillar, it chews leaves. When it becomes a butterfly drinks its food instead. Adults use a long, protruding mouthpart called a proboscis as a drinking straw to sip the juice of rotting fruit, the fluids of decomposing animals, tree sap, fungi and wet mud. Blue morphos taste fruit with sensors on their legs, and they “taste-smell” the air with their antennae, which serve as a combined tongue and nose.

Average life span: The life span is one of the shortest. They can live only 115 days. Their time as a butterfly is restricted to reproduction.

Diet: The blue morpho’s diet changes throughout each stage of its life. As a caterpillar, it chews leaves. When it becomes a butterfly drinks its food instead. Adults use a long, protruding mouthpart called a proboscis as a drinking straw to sip the juice of rotting fruit, the fluids of decomposing animals, tree sap, fungi and wet mud. Blue morphos taste fruit with sensors on their legs, and they “taste-smell” the air with their antennae, which serve as a combined tongue and nose.

Average life span: The life span is one of the shortest. They can live only 115 days. Their time as a butterfly is restricted to reproduction.

Habitat: Blue morphos survive in the tropical forests of Latin America from Mexico to Colombia including Costa Rica. Adult’s morphos spend almost all their time on the forest floor and in the lower shrubs and trees of the understory with their wings folded. However, at the time of searching for mates, the blue morphos can fly through all layers of the forest.

Breeding/Reproduction: Butterflies live for reproduction; they reproduce and die immediately after laying their eggs. Male butterflies release chemicals called pheromones in their wings and attract as many females as possible. The female’s eggs are fertilized, they lay them in a safe place and flies off. The eggs will hatch after about nine days.

Blue Morpho Butterfly comes from the family of Nymphalidae. It is mostly endemic to South and Central America as well in Mexico. It got its name Morpho which means “changed” because of its ability to look like it is changing colors when in flight as well as on halt mode. This was all due to the butterfly’s prominent wings. The blue morpho’s wings spans from five to eight inches. The color of the ventral or the front of the wing is dull brown and it seems to have lots of eyespots to protect them from predators like birds and insects if they closed their wings. The dorsal or the back part is bright blue with a black edged. This bright blue coloring is the result of the microscopic scales which reflects light at its back. When the blue morpho flaps its wings upon flying the bright blue back is in contrast to the front dull brown which makes them look like they are appearing and disappearing into the air. Most male blue morpho has broader wings that the females and it appears to be brighter in color while most of the female blue morpho has dull blue wings that has white spots with brown edging.

The Blue Morpho’s life cycle begins when the eggs are hatched into larvae. Then when they become a caterpillar they have more of a brownish red with green patches at the back. They had prickly hair that can irritate predators under threat. These caterpillars mostly eat on leaves but they mostly fancy plants from the pea family. Then it will form into a jade-green chrysalis to start metamorphosis. Then after that an adult blue morpho butterfly emerges. At this stage since they cannot chew they drinks its food instead. They use their proboscis which is like a drinking straw to sip fluids of rotten fruits, carcass, tree saps, fungus and even wet mud. They used their legs to taste fruits due to their leg sensors. And their antennae will acts like a combination of their tongue and nose since it can “taste-smell” the air in search for food.

The blue morpho has several species:

Morpho Menelaus

One is the Menelaus Blue Morpho which has the scientific name Morpho Menelaus. It is mostly found in Central and South America like Costa Rica, Brazil and Venezuela but can go far as Mexico. Their wing spans at the average of 5.9 inches.

Peleides Blue Morpho

Second type is the Peleides Blue Morpho also known as the Common Morpho or The Emperor. Its scientific name is Morpho peleides. It is endemic mostly in Mexico, Northern part of South America, Paraguay, Central America and Trinidad

Blue Morphos has a life span of 115 days only. Even though they had few months to live some are threatened by their natural predators like the birds and also due to habitat destruction because of loggings and land clearing. Also humans capture and display them due to its bright and beautiful color.

 

[beautress]

Giant Leopard Moth, Hypercompe scribonia

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