SHORT COMMUNICATIONS

Abstract

In lowland deciduous forests of Costa Rica, larvae of the bruchid beetle, Caryedes brasiliensis feed solely on the seeds of the leguminous vine, Dioelea megacarpa (Janzen, 1971). Over 95% of the free amino acid nitrogen and 55% of all nitrogen in the seed is the free amino acid, L-canavanine (Rosenthal, 1977).