This research involves the study of rare and threatened aggregations of species is the butterfly genus Anetia from high altitude habitats on Hispaniola, Jamaica, Cuba, and MesoAmerica. Anetia is probably the most primitive genus of Monarch butterflies, which makes its behavior, physiology, and reproductive and population dynamics central to understanding the biology of aggregation, mimicry, diapause and chemical defense in butterflies. One of the expected results of this study is a better understanding of the origin and nature of chemical defenses in insects: are the noxious chemicals independent synthesized by the insects or do they sequester the chemicals from food plants? The project is extremely urgent, given the imminent disappearance of the high, montane forests in the Lesser Antilles.
