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Because of this, it is most often suggested to grow milkweeds that are native to the geographical area they are planted in to prevent negative impacts on monarch butterflies. [25] [26] Monarch caterpillars do not favor butterfly weed (A. tuberosa), perhaps because the leaves of that milkweed species contain very little cardenolide. [27]
Like several other species of milkweed, A. asperula is a food for monarch butterfly caterpillars. Along with being food for monarchs, the plants also contain toxic cardiac glycosides (cardenolides) that the monarchs retain, making them unpalatable and poisonous to predators.
Asclepias fascicularis is a specific monarch butterfly food and habitat plant. However, it provides negligible cardenolide content, a set of protective chemicals that reduce the virulence of the OE parasite and bird predation. [citation needed]
Breeding monarchs prefer to lay eggs on A. incarnata. [20] The species is therefore often planted in butterfly gardens and "Monarch Waystations" to help sustain monarch butterfly populations. [21] However, A. incarnata is an early successional plant that usually grows at the margins of wetlands and in seasonally flooded areas. [22]
Asclepias speciosa is a specific monarch butterfly food and habitat plant. Additionally, phenylacetaldehyde produced by the plants attracts Synanthedon myopaeformis, the red-belted clearwing moth. [7] It is also a larval host for the dogbane tiger moth and the queen butterfly. [8]
A. tuberosa is a larval food plant of the queen and monarch butterflies, as well as the dogbane tiger moth, milkweed tussock moth, and the unexpected cycnia. [3] [12] Because of its rough leaves and trichomes, it is not a preferred host plant of the monarch butterfly but caterpillars can be reared on it successfully.
It serves as a host plant for larvae of monarch, queen, and soldier butterflies (Danaus plexippus, Danaus gilippus, and Danaus eresimus, respectively). It also serves as a source of nectar for adult butterflies and insects. [8] Researchers have concluded that A. lanceolata provides a high-quality nectar resource for its pollinating helpers. [7]
Gomphocarpus physocarpus is a food of the caterpillars of Danaus butterflies, including the African monarch butterfly (Danaus chrysippus orientis). They store the unpleasant tasting and toxic cardenolides from the plants to deter predators. Distinctive colouration alerts predators before they attack. [8]