Alkaloid-sequestration
Guides
Apantesis incorrupta
Immaculate Tiger Moth
Apantesis incorrupta is an arctiine tiger moth in the family Erebidae, described by Henry Edwards in 1881. It occurs across the southwestern United States and Mexico, inhabiting grasslands and open woodlands. The species produces two generations annually and is notable for research demonstrating larval self-medication behavior using alkaloid compounds to combat parasitoids. It was transferred from the genus Grammia to Apantesis in recent taxonomic revisions.
Arctia caja
Garden Tiger, Great Tiger Moth
Large, conspicuously colored moth with a wingspan up to 65 mm. Forewings are cryptic brown with irregular cream-colored bands; hindwings are orange (rarely yellow) with large rounded bluish spots. This aposematic species sequesters toxic alkaloids for defense. The species has undergone significant decline in the U.K. over the past 30 years, accompanied by phenotypic changes including longer, narrower wings and reduced genetic diversity.
Chelymorpha cassidea
Argus tortoise beetle, milkweed tortoise beetle
Chelymorpha cassidea is a large tortoise beetle native to North America and the Caribbean, measuring 9–12 mm in length. Adults display variable coloration from yellow to bright red with black spots, and possess a distinctive ability to extend their red head beyond the pronotum, creating an appearance likened to the mythological figure Argus. Both larvae and adults feed on foliage of Convolvulaceae plants, including morning glory and sweet potato, and are capable of defoliating entire plants. The species overwinters as pupae in soil and emerges in mid-summer.
Halysidota tessellaris
Banded Tussock Moth, Pale Tiger Moth, Tessellated Halisidota
A tiger moth species in the family Erebidae, described by James Edward Smith in 1797. Adults acquire defensive alkaloids from host plants. Caterpillars are conspicuous, with distinctive tufted setae and extra-long hair-pencils at both ends. The species is univoltine in northern parts of its range and multivoltine in the south.
Neacoryphus
Neacoryphus is a genus of seed bugs in the family Lygaeidae, established by Scudder in 1965. The genus contains approximately five to seven described species, with Neacoryphus bicrucis being the most extensively studied. Members of this genus are seed-feeding insects with documented chemical defense mechanisms and complex territorial behaviors.
Tylodina
Tylodina is a genus of medium-sized marine gastropods in the family Tylodinidae, order Umbraculida. Commonly known as false limpets, these sea snails have a cap-like shell resembling true limpets but are not closely related to them. The genus includes species found in the Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Atlantic Ocean, with at least four recognized species: T. perversa, T. rafinesquii, T. fungina, and T. americana. Molecular and morphological studies have clarified species boundaries within the genus, including the resurrection of T. rafinesquii as distinct from the sympatric T. perversa.
Uresiphita
Uresiphita is a genus of crambid moths comprising approximately six recognized species distributed across North America, New Zealand, Europe, and the Middle East. The genus is notable for larval sequestration of quinolizidine alkaloids from leguminous host plants, a chemical defense mechanism against predators. Several species have expanded their ranges through association with introduced host plants.
Uresiphita reversalis
Genista Broom Moth, Sophora Worm
Uresiphita reversalis is a multivoltine crambid moth native to Mexico and the southwestern United States that has expanded its range north and east across North America. The caterpillars feed diurnally in groups on leguminous host plants, particularly members of the tribe Genisteae, and sequester quinolizidine alkaloids for chemical defense. The species has gained notoriety as both a pest of ornamental plants and a potential biocontrol agent for invasive broom species. Adults are small moths with distinctive white bodies and bright yellow or orange hindwings.