Image of the Day: Toxic Taste

The skipper butterfly caterpillar (Pyrrhopyge thericles) is toxic to predators because it feeds on poisonous Vismia plants.

The Scientist Staff

Oct 23, 2015 | 1 min read

SMITHSONIAN TROPICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, ANNETTE AIELLO(See “Differential sequestration of a cytotoxic vismione from the host plant Vismia baccifera by Periphoba arcaei and Pyrrhopyge thericles,” Journal of Chemical Ecology, 2015.)

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