DOI: 10.5061/dryad.866t1g1xb
title: Endemic island plant-herbivore interactions: Kamehameha butterfly (Nymphalidae) and Hawaiian Urticaceae

description: Insect-plant interactions are less well studied than other types of
 herbivory on islands, precluding a comprehensive understanding of the
 evolutionary ecology of these interactions. Declines in native island
 plants and insects call for urgent attention to characterize these
 species’ interactions for their conservation and to better understand
 evolution in these unique, insular ecosystems. In Hawai‘i, the Kamehameha
 butterfly (Vanessa tameamea) is one of only two native butterflies, and
 larvae are specialists on native urticaceous plants. Using a no-choice
 bioassay, we investigated performance of V. tameamea reared from egg
 hatching through eclosion on four native urticaceous host plants,
 Boehmeria grandis, Pipturus albidus, Touchardia latifolia, and Touchardia
 oahuensis, and one exotic urticaceous species, Cecropia obtusifolia.
 Performance varied significantly among the plant diets, with V. tameamea
 performing best on P. albidus and T. oahuensis among the performance
 metrics of survival, pupal and adult body mass, and development time.
 Larval responses to the exotic host plant C. obtusifolia varied among
 populations, with O‘ahu caterpillars successfully completing development
 on it, but Hawai‘i Island caterpillars rejecting it completely, suggesting
 a geographic mosaic for this novel species interaction. Characterization
 of a suite of nutritive and defensive plant traits revealed significant
 variability among plant species, but patterns did not align well with V.
 tameamea performance rankings, making it difficult to identify key drivers
 of host plant quality. Future work examining additional plant traits under
 natural conditions would provide new insights, contributing critical
 ecological information to conserve this charismatic island species.
description: Performance of Kamehameha butterflies was assessed via survival,
 time to eclosion, and adult biomass, in a lab bioassay experiment testing
 the quality of 5 plant diets. Characteristics of the five plant species
 used as hostplant material were assessed via chemical analyses,
 morphological analyses, and microscopy. Raw data are provided
 here.
description: # Endemic island plant-herbivore interactions: Kamehameha butterfly
 (Nymphalidae) and Hawaiian Urticaceae
 Data from bioassay
 experiment testing performance of Kamehameha butterfly (*Vanessa
 tameamea*) on five Urticaceous host plant species. Hostplant quality data
 are included. ## Description of the data and file structure
 **Bioassay_survival (Sheet 1)** Description:  Survival data for *Vanessa
 tameamea* reared on five different plant diets (N=224)
 butterfly_population: *Vanessa tameamea* population; individuals from
 three Hawaii populations used in the study (two from Oahu and one from
 Hawaii Island) diet: the plant diet that *Vanessa tameamea* consumed
 during the bioassay count: total number of *Vanessa tameamea* individuals
 fed a particular diet from a particular population (subgroup count)
  no_total_survived_incl_deformity: total number of *Vanessa tameamea*
 individuals that survived in each diet/population subgroup from egg
 hatching to eclosion and includes those that eclosed with deformities that
 would have prevented them from taking flight in the wild
  no_total_survived_excl_deformity: total number of *Vanessa tameamea*
 individuals that survived in each diet/population subgroup from egg
 hatching to eclosion and excludes those individuals that eclosed with
 deformities that would have prevented them from taking flight in the wild
  **Bioassay_other_metrics (Sheet 2)**  Description: Growth and performance
 metrics for Vanessa tameamea reared on five different plant diets.
  butterfly_population:  *Vanessa tameamea* population; individuals from
 three Hawaii populations used in the study (two from Oahu and one from
 Hawaii Island)  individual_id: unique identification code for each
 *Vanessa tameamea* individual that survived through eclosion without
 deformities (N=157);  diet:  the plant diet that each *Vanessa tameamea*
 individual consumed during the bioassay  sex: the sex of each individual
 *Vanessa tameamea* (M=male, F=female)  no_instars: the total number of
 instars each individual *Vanessa tameamea* went through before pupation
  pupal_weight: the pupal mass of each individual *Vanessa tameamea*; the
 pupal mass was calculated by subtracting the ramakin lid after the
 butterfly eclosed (with the old chrysalis shell removed) from the ramakin
 lid with the attached hardened pupa (during the butterfly’s pupal stage);
 units: grams (g)  adult_weight: the adult mass of each individual *Vanessa
 tameamea* after it eclosed; the mass was measured eight to twelve hours
 after the butterfly eclosed in order to minimize variance in mass due to
 hemolymph loss and expulsion of the meconium; units: grams (g)
  hatch_to_pupation_time:  the amount of time in days it took an individual
 *Vanessa tameamea* to reach pupation (as indicated by a hardened
 chrysalis) starting from the day the individual hatched from an egg;
 units: days  hatch_to_eclosion_time:  the amount of time in days it took
 an individual *Vanessa tameamea* to reach eclosion (emergence from the
 chrysalis as an adult butterfly) starting from the day the individual
 hatched from an egg; units: days  pupation_to_eclosion_time:  the amount
 of time in days an individual *Vanessa tameamea* was in its pupal stage
 (*i.e.*, pupation time). The start of the pupation was marked by a
 hardened chrysalis. Pupation time ended with the butterfly’s eclosion from
 the chrysalis; units: days  **Plant_functional_trait \_data (Sheet 3)**
 \** **Description: Functional trait data for the five plant species that
 *Vanessa tameamea* was reared on during the bioassay. All leaves were
 mature and were collected from mature, wild plants from two different
 locations (Manoa Cliff and Pali Lookout). A total of four leaves were
 collected per individual plant. Two leaves were used to calculate
 chlorophyll, LMA, leaf thickness, carbon to nitrogen ration, phosphorus,
 and calcium. Two separate leaves were collected, dried, and combined for
 the phenolic analyses .  species:  the plant species that leaves were
 collected from in the field for the functional trait analyses
  plant_field_ID: the unique identification number for each individual
 plant sampled in the field  site: location of leaf collections (Pali or
 Manoa Cliff)  chlorophyll_spad:  a unitless measurement of chlorophyll
 using a SPAD meter; one chlorophyll reading was taken on two different
 leaves per plant; chlorophyll measurements represent the average
 chlorophyll measurement across two leaves collected from an individual
 plant  LMA: a measurement (grams/meter2) of dry leaf mass divided by the
 area of a fresh leaf; LMA measurements represent the average LMA across
 two leaves collected from an individual plant  leaf_thickness:  the
 thickness of an individual leaf in milimeters. One measurement of leaf
 thickness was taken on two different leaves per plant; leaf thickness
 measurements represent the average leaf thickness across two leaves
 collected from an individual plant. CN_ratio: a unitless measurement of
 the ratio of carbon (milligrams/grams) to nitrogen (milligrams/grams)
 within a leaf. The CN ratio represents the carbon to nitrogen ratio of two
 leaves that were dried and then combined into one sample for carbon and
 nitrogen analysis.  Ca_mg_g: a measurement of the quantity of calcium
 (milligrams/gram) within a leaf. The leaf calcium content represent the
 calcium content of two leaves that were dried and then combined into one
 sample for the calcium testing.  P_mg_g:  a measurement of the quantity of
 phosphorus (milligrams/gram) within a leaf. The leaf phosphorus content
 represent the phosphorus content of two leaves that were dried and then
 combined into one sample for the phosphorus testing.  Phenolic_test_ID: a
 unique identification number given to each leaf sample used for phenolic
 analyses  Total phenolics: the quantity of total phenolics
 (milligrams/gram) within a leaf sample; the quantity of total phenolics
 within each cell represents an average of three subsamples analyzed from a
 combined dried leaf sample from two leaves collected from an individual
 plant Phenolics_post_oxidation: the quantity of remaining leaf phenolics
 (milligrams/gram) after a sample was oxidized; the quantity of remaining
 phenolics post-oxidation within each cell represents an average of three
 subsamples analyzed from a combined dried leaf sample from two leaves
 collected from an individual plant  Oxidized_phenolics: the quantity of
 leaf phenolics (milligrams/grams) that were oxidized within a sample; each
 sample contained dried leaf material from two leaves from an individual
 plant; the quantity of oxidized phenolics within each cell represents the
 subtraction average (total phenolics minus phenolics post oxidation) of
 three subsamples analyzed from a combined dried leaf sample from two
 leaves collected from an individual plant; in cases where the quantity was
 a negative value, the negative value was replaced with a quantity of zero
  Proportion_oxidized_phenolics_to_total_phenolics:  a unitless measurement
 of the proportion of oxidized phenolics (mg/g) divided by the number of
 total phenolics (mg/g) within a leaf sample; the proportion value within
 each cell represents the average proportion of oxidized phenolics to total
 phenolics of three subsamples analyzed from a combined dried leaf sample
 from two leaves collected from an individual plant ## Code/Software All
 analyses and figures were done in R 4.3.0.