Lepidoptera Lovers: Butterfly Kisses

[badger2]

The husky is reminiscent of the pet in Wisconsin who seemed to detect ovarian cancer with its sense of smell. The monarch's poisons, cardiac glycosides, are indeed for its protection as Larsen's webpage says.

(Nov 2018) Danaus plexippus Parasite Resistance / Cardiac Glycosides
The Effects of Milkweed Induced Defense on Parasite Resistance in Monarch Butterflies, Danaus plexippus. - PubMed - NCBI

The monarch is also an anticancer butterfly.

(Mar 2019) Anticancer Cardiac Glycoside Cerberin
Cardiac glycoside Cerberin exerts anticancer activity through PI3K/AKT/mTOR signal transduction inhibition. - PubMed - NCBI

The Bordered Patch does not seem to be armed with cardiac glycosides, though a glycoside does occur in its host genus, Verbesina.

(Jan 2009) Verbesinosides A-F from Verbesina
Verbesinosides A-F, 15,27-cyclooleanane saponins from the American native plant Verbesina virginica. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[badger2]

When having applied amino acid music to the PI3K gene on an investigative trajectory for ovarian cancer (Music forum), we found that the mutation at position 1047 of the gene, nature had already written in the ominous-sounding music. One did not have to add anything to represent the mutation. Anyone can verify that what we are saying is true. Therefore, Danaus plexippus takes the (current) lead as an anticancer mascot butterfly.

 

[Marion Morrison]

Wish I knew what this critter was, I just pulled him up with "beautiful lepidoptera" in my bing search engine for images. I was enchanted to the point of intoxication, *sigh*…

My guess is he or she could be a moth rather than a butterfly due to the fuzzy-wuzzies on his wing's shoulders.

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Looks like a job for a can of Aqua-Net + a lighter!

 

[badger2]

Noting that the Cerberin report is from a collaboration: UK, Australia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Rutgers University in New Jersey, cerberin is behaving like radiotherapy in the cell because it causes double-strand breaks just as does radiotherapy. The cancer cell's major problem at this point is that it does not recognize the damage as does a healthy cell and loses the race in the DNA damage repair response (DDR). Thus, the use of some of these plant compounds in the lepidoptera are also for protection from forms of radiation such as UV, even in the moths.

 

[badger2]

Bhutan Glory
www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Asia%20temperate%20-%20Bhutanitis%20lidderdalii.htm

 

[beautress]

I'm very fond of Giant Sulphur butterflies. In January of 2017, I saw the unbelievable. We had a mild couple of weeks here in Walker County, TX, and every time I went out doors, I was blessed by the amazing sight of "Giant" Sulphurs. They had a wingspan of nearly 5 inches, which for sulphur butter flies is huge. It's one of those Januarys I will never forget. This year, January was unusually frigid. Mother nature is so fickle! Anyway, here are some lovely selections form YouTube citizens extraordinaire in the butterfly world:

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[percysunshine]

I

Sorry
I just had to

I was guessing the video would end with the dog flipping and eating the butterfly...glad I was wrong...

 

[badger2]

With a husky's great sense of smell, did it know the butterfly was poisonous?

1. In the sulphur videos above, badger2 lived in Florida and during collecting years never knew of one that had a wingspan of 5 in. Colias gigantea reaches 2.2 in. and Phoebis sennae can get to 3.25 in. How were the 5 in. specimens measured? Those would be new to science?

2.) The sennae plants and critical mass mentioned are important. In Wisconsin are developing a system for a few select plants in grown in containers for anti-cancer studies. For example, Hamamelis virginiana can be grown in containers for a number of years before becoming too unwieldy. Having enough material for experiments is crucial for this anti-cancer trajectory.

3.) The black markings on the edge of these butterfly forewings of the sulphurs link to melanin production and gene patterns that occur during development with critical time spans even within 24 hour periods. The Notch gene pathway in human cancer links to a wavy-edged wing also seen in moths of the Noctuidae as well as in fruitflies (Drosophila).

 

[badger2]

USMB Current Events has the monkey thread for MCPH1 gene. It is transferred here due to the connection of miR-27a with one of our chosen lepidoptera medical models, Papaipema cerina, host plant being Podophyllum peltatum. Etoposide is the evolution of such anti-cancer compounds from Podophyllum. The investigative trajectory will include chemistry of resistance and sensitivity to ionizing radiation, which likely evolved in Papaipema and other lepidoptera as protective mechanisms akin to the DDR (DNA damage response) in humans.

'miRNAs have potential to function as signal transducers by directly targeting kinases involved in DDR. For example, ATM (a DDR gene) has been shown to be a gene target of a variety of miRNAs (micro RNA), including miR-223, miR-181a, miR-26a, miR27a, miR-214, and miR-18a. These miRNAs enhance sensitivity to IR (ionizing radiation) and etoposide by regulating the ATM-mediated signaling pathway (ataxia-telangiectasia mutated). There are reports of miR-101 directly targeting DNA-PKcs, thereby sensitizing the non-small cell lung cancer cells to IR....these studies showed that miRNAs regulate DNA damage response by acting as signal transducers.'
(Arjumand W, et al, Noncoding RNAs in DNA Damage Response: Opportunities for Cancer Therapeutics, in MicroRNA and Cancer, Humana Press 2018)

MCPH1 / miR-27a
Primary microcephaly gene MCPH1 shows a novel molecular biomarker of human renal carcinoma and is regulated by miR-27a. - PubMed - NCBI

Cancer Mascot Lepidoptera: Papaipema cerina on Podophyllum peltatum
https://gtapestry.com/2008/05/papaipema-cerina.html

 

[badger2]

Gossamer Tapestry: Papaipema cerina

 

[badger2]

There is some difference in pronunciation of the genus. Entomologists that badger2 have spoken with pronounce it as five syllables, with accent on the third: pa-puh-I-pe-ma. Rearing it on carrots will be avoided because such things as increased retinoids may interfere with a metabolic profile afforded by the Podophyllum. It starts out on various grasses, so the diet and life cycle is a bit more complex than other moths.

 

[beautress]

Black swallowtails like these plants: fennel, dill, parsley, carrot

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[beautress]

Black Swallowtails have many beautiful looks...

 

[beautress]

Black Swallowtail Butterfly, Papilion Polyxenes
They're a bit dimorphic from what I gleaned at Wikipedia, with the male having a dominant yellow color on its upper wings, and the females with brighter blue markings below.
I. e.: males
(Master gardeners)

v. females
(Master Gardeners)

I see quite a few of them here in the lovely piney woods area of Walker County, Texas.
This specie is the state butterfly of Oklahoma, so they say.

One other thing about the Black swallowtail, is that if they live their lives out escaping predators, they live longer than most butterflies do, as their natural lifespan is about a year. Many butterflies are gone in a couple of weeks, more or less.

 

[badger2]

Black Swallowtail Time Lapse

 

[beautress]

Black Swallowtail Time Lapse

Wow, that happens so fast, badger2. Good video.

 

[badger2]

Having just left Hamilton, Montana in 2006 after meeting Dr. Willy Burgdorfer, the discoverer of the Lyme disease agent, a trip across Skalkaho Pass:

Skalkaho Checkerspots
Euphydryas anicia howlandi (pinned specimens, page 1)

Skalkaho Pass, Montana

 

[badger2]

Several of the genus Papaipema are shown in this video beginning at time-point 17:17. P. cerina is one of the chosen cancer-studies moths for 2019:

Prairie Moths

 

[beautress]

Thanks, badger2. That was quite some ride through Montana! And a beautiful checkerspot, too at the link. And the ones just above this look a lot like Atlas Moths. Fascinating! Fabulous, your video.
(My notepad below)
Wow! A crystal-winged moth. Almost looks like a hummingbird. Lots of really pretty ones.Thanks for showing the very special moth video. Just amazing! Into about 25 minutes of the 47. Raspbery Pyrausta is pretty! And the Clouded Veneer makes a camouflage tunnel to get at the leaves without detection. Whoa!!!! I never saw anything even remotely like a leaf mine that I can recollect. What a little critter! So you can mash up and ferment a banana and brown sugar, paint it on some bark and attract moths. (at 32 minutes on the youtube above.) Peterson Field Guide to Moths, Caterpillars of Eastern North America by David Wagner; Bug Guide website, Moth photography pages, online, load into Bing search engine for sites. Burnt fields are hard on insects, and that would be bad for the environmental habitat where birds need protein. Prairie Haven dot com. (Marcie's website) How very beautiful this video you shared is, badger2. Thanks!

 

[beautress]

I found Marcie's website, and are there ever some lovely butterfly pictures she made here: Butterflies – Prairie Haven