490 IX. CAROTENOIDS AND VITAMINS A 



adult Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) which, in turn, 

 obtained it from the leaves of potato plants. Although |8-carotene was 

 found by Wall'*^'' to be the only carotenoid in the cotton aphid, melon or 

 plant louse {Aphis gossypii Glover), Lederer-^ reported that another mem- 

 ber of the Hemiptera, the red and black fire-bug {Pyrrhocoris apterus) con- 

 tained only lycopene, and no /3-carotene. 



d". Hymenoptera. This order includes the ichneumon flies, ants, and 

 bees. A black, hymenopterous parasite {Apanteles flaviconchae) normally 

 feeds on the larvae of a blue-green caterpillar of the clouded sulfur butterfly 

 (Colias {Eurymus) philodice); the xanthophylls which it obtains in this 

 manner are excreted in the yellow silk with which it makes its cocoons. 

 When it feeds on the green mutant of C. philodice, which contains no xan- 

 thophyll, the silk produced is colorless. ^^^ Von Euler and co-workers ^"^ re- 

 ported the presence of carotene in the eggs of certain ants. The parasitic 

 braconid fly {Microgaster (Apanteles) glomeratus) contains the same carot- 

 enoids as does its host, which is the caterpillar of the cabbage butterfly 

 (Pieris brassicae), viz., a-carotene and taraxanthin.'^^i 



Carotene has been demonstrated in honey and beeswax, ^^-•''^^ as well as 

 in propolis (bee glue).''^^ In addition to /3-carotene in honey, which 

 Schuette and Botf^^ believed was its only carotenoid, Tischer"**^ demon- 

 strated the presence of lutein; it is, of course, probable that the constituent 

 pigments vary with the source of the pollen. 



e". Orthopfera. The carotenoids in the Orthoptera, which include the 

 locusts and similar winged insects, have recently been extensively ex- 

 amined. Podiapolsky,^^^ in 1907, was the first to call attention to the xan- 

 thophylls in one member of this order, namely the great long-horned green 

 grasshopper or leaf-locust {Locust a {Tettigonia) viridissima) ; Panu and 

 Verrier^*^ also reported that large amounts of carotenoids were produced in 

 some red dry-leaf insects {Phyllium. sicci folium) , by raising them on the oil 

 of green oak leaves. The green variety, nourished on ordinary oak leaves, 

 contained no carotenoids or xanthophyll.''^'^ 



The most comprehensive investigation of the Orthoptera was made by 

 Przibram and Lederer.^'^'^ Carotenes have been universally found to be 

 the most common carotenoid in this group of insects. For example, Przi- 

 bram and Lederer*^^ reported that a- and /3-carotenes, "chlorophyll," and 

 a blue water-soluble pigment were responsible for the green coloration of 

 the East Indian walking-stick insect {Dixippus morosus). It is now be- 

 lieved that the blue pigment in D. morosus is not "cholorophyll" but a 



«^ H. A. Schuette and P. A. Bott, J. Am. Chem. Soc, 50, 1998-2000 (1928). 

 «5 J. Tischer, Z. physiol. Chem., 267, U~22 (1940). 



