What are the patterns of consumption and growth on the salicin- and aristolochic-acid-treated diets?
In this experiment (experiment 2), we determined (i) the pattern of food intake by the caterpillars on the control, salicin (157 mmol kg–1) or aristolochic acid (0.38 mmol kg–1) diet over the 48 h exposure period and (ii) how this pattern of consumption affected growth. We monitored food consumption indirectly by quantifying the amount of feces (i.e. frass) each caterpillar produced during successive 1 h time intervals. To this end, we used a custom-built automated device to collect all frass pellets produced during each successive 1 h interval. This device housed four caterpillars at a time, each in a separate circular container (7 cm in diameter, 4 cm tall) with a bottom consisting of a 0.6 cm×0.6 cm grid of nylon fishing line; this grid was small enough to prevent escape by the caterpillars but large enough to allow frass pellets to pass through. These containers were located on an elevated platform in a linear array. Approximately 10 cm below the platform, we positioned a polystyre
