An infographic titled "Caterpillars vs. plants: A chemical battle."
It details plant defenses—direct toxins like alkaloids, defensive hormones like methyl jasmonate, and protein-digesting enzyme inhibitors—and how caterpillars overcome them.
Cabbage whites convert glucosinolates (e.g., sinigrin) into harmless nitriles via digestive enzymes.
Monarch caterpillars have mutations that allow them to resist milkweed's cardiac glycosides (e.g., asclepin), storing toxins through pupation to deter predators, similar to cinnabar moths with ragwort alkaloids.
Tomato fruitworm moth caterpillars use saliva enzymes to suppress plant toxin production.
An infographic titled "Caterpillars vs. plants: A chemical battle." It details plant defenses—direct toxins like alkaloids, defensive hormones like methyl jasmonate, and protein-digesting enzyme inhibitors—and how caterpillars overcome them. Cabbage whites convert glucosinolates (e.g., sinigrin) into harmless nitriles via digestive enzymes. Monarch caterpillars have mutations that allow them to resist milkweed's cardiac glycosides (e.g., asclepin), storing toxins through pupation to deter predators, similar to cinnabar moths with ragwort alkaloids. Tomato fruitworm moth caterpillars use saliva enzymes to suppress plant toxin production.
