RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 83, NO. 6, 25 SEPTEMBER 2002 741 *For correspondence. (e-mail: veranja@chem.pdn.ac.lk) An association between the butterfly Talicada nyseus and the lichen Leproloma sipmanianum as evidenced from chemical studies Veranja Karunaratne †, *, Karunananda Bombuwela † , Selvaluxmy Kathirgamanathar † , Vijaya Kumar † , D. Nedra Karunaratne # , K. B. Ranawana ‡ , D. S. A. Wijesundara ## , Aruna Weerasooriya ## and E. D. De Silva** † Department of Chemistry, and ‡ Department of Zoology, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka # Faculty of Science, The Open University of Sri Lanka, Kandy Regional Center, Sri Lanka ## Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka **Department of Chemistry, University of Colombo, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka Lichens produce a variety of lichen products having a wide range of biological activities. Not surprisingly, it has been found that snails and some insects, particu- larly moths (Lepidoptera) of the family Arctiidae use lichen phenolics for defence purposes. On the other hand, members of the butterfly family, Lycaenidae (e.g. Talicada nyseus) are considered plant feeders. Monarch butterflies (Nymphalidae) accumulate toxic cardiac glycosides in milkweeds, which are used by the adults to deter predators. In this communica- tion we report the occurrence of common lichen products, including phenolics in the butterfly T. nyseus. L ICHENS are symbiotic organisms of fungi (mycobionts) and algae (photobionts) comprising about 17,000 species recorded worldwide 1 . They commonly grow on rock sur- faces, poorly developed soils such as those found in arid lands and boreal–arctic regions, and as epiphytes on trees and shrubs 2 . In habitats where the amount of available nutrients is limited, lichens may become the dominant flora, thus providing an important potential source of food for herbivores. Lichens accumulate large concentra- tions of products, particularly aromatic phenolic com- pounds, not found in other plants (sometimes exceeding 20% of dry weight). The majority of these compounds originate from the fungal symbiont. The general resis- tance of lichens to insects and microbial attack is attrib- uted to the presence of lichen products 3 . Recent experiments using polyphagous larvae of the insect Spodoptera littoralis (Noctuidae) have shown acute toxicity and feeding deterrency for common lichen compounds such as (+)- and (–)-usnic acid and vulpinic acid at concentrations found in lichens 3 . When added to the larval diet of S. littoralis, lichen compounds such as oxyphysodic acid and fumarprotocetraric acid prolonged the larval period and elicited malformations of imagines 4 . Although lichen products show antifeedant and toxic effects toward generalist herbivores, there are specialized lichen feeders such as oribatid mites 5 and terrestrial gas- tropods 6 . Hesbacher et al . 7 have shown that lichen pheno- lics such as parietin and atranorin are accumulated by 11 moth species of the family Arctiidae (Lepidoptera), and they may be used in defence. The same two phenolics are stored by the lichen-feeding snails, Balea perversa and Chondrina clienta 8 . In the present study, we report sequestration of lichen products belonging to the crustaceous lichen Leproloma sipmanianum Kümmerl & Leuckert by the butterfly Tali- cada nyseus Guérin (red pierrot) (Lycaenidae) in Bera- gala (80°54′ 30″ E, 6°45′ 30″ N), Uva Province, Sri Lanka. T. nyseus was found flying close to the extensive lichen thallus, growing on roadside proterozoic rocks of gneiss and quartz schist which are exposed at road edges, and roosting on it periodically (Figure 1). Pupae of the butterflies were also located anchored to the thallus surface. T. nyseus is distributed in Sri Lanka and India. The Sri Lankan population belongs to the nominotypical race, which flies throughout the island 9 . In T. nyseus the sexes are similar, the female being slightly larger and paler, with rounder wings. The butterfly is found close to hu- man settlements as well as forested areas. The larvae of T. nyseus are onisciform, pale pink, with a row of dorso- lateral black spots and covered all over with short hairs. The natural food source of the larvae is Bryophyllum calycinum (Sinhala: akkapana; Tamil: malai-kalli), where the larvae live within its juicy leaves (Figure 2). The female butterflies oviposit on the plant. Eggs hatch and the larvae eat their way into the laminae of the leaf. The pupae, which emerge, are indistinguishable from the lar- vae, but are fixed by tail and girdle. Figure 1. Talicada nyseus butterfly landing on Leproloma sipma- nianum lichen.