Previous studies have shown that: (1) plant defensive compounds may have medicinal properties; and (2) defensive compounds present in aposematic insects are often sequestered from their host-plant(s). This study addresses whether aposematic insects can be used as guides to detect plants containing medicinally-active compounds. First, ten tropical medicinally-active plants and ten non-active plants, selected using previous ICBG bioassay results, were observed regularly to determine their insect populations. Aposematic insects were found more frequently on active than non-active plants ( X2=8.167, P=0.01). Second, three aposematic insects feeding on Tithonia diversifolia were examined chemically to determine the fate of the plant's pharmaceutically-active compounds. They were not found to sequester or excrete these compounds. Therefore, using aposematic insects could increase the likelihood of finding plants with medicinally-active compounds; however, these insects may not necessarily utilize these compounds for defensive purposes. The underlying basis for this significant association between aposematic insects and medicinally-active plants requires further investigation.

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