Food intake of fruit-feeding butterflies: evidence for adaptive variation in proboscis morphology

Molleman, Freerk; Krenn, Harald W.; Alphen, Monique E. van; Brakefield, Paul M.; DeVries, Philip J.; Zwaan, Bas J.

doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2005.00533.x

Cited by 49 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Mean diameter of a liposome was 4.270.2 mm. Thus, the intake of liposomes by the butterflies is not constrained by proboscis morphology (Molleman et al, 2005b).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Effects of adult nutrition on female reproduction in a fruit-feeding butterfly: The role of fruit decay and dietary lipids

Bauerfeind

Fischer

Hartstein

et al. 2007

Journal of Insect Physiology

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It was generally believed that butterflies and other holometabolous insects rely primarily on reserves accumulated during the larval stage for reproduction. Recent studies, however, highlight the often fundamental importance of adult nutrition to realize the full reproductive potential. While the importance of carbohydrates is fairly well understood, the role of most other adult-derived substances is only partially resolved. We here focus on the effects of dietary lipids (cholesterol, polyunsaturated fatty acids) and fruit decay (dietary yeast, ethanol) on female reproduction in the tropical, fruit-feeding butterfly Bicyclus anynana (Nymphalidae). We found that banana-fed control females outperformed all other groups fed on sucrose-based diets. Lipids, yeast or ethanol added to a sugar solution did not yield a similarly high reproductive output compared to fruit-fed females. Groups fed fresh or decaying banana showed no differences in reproductive performance. As we could not identify a single pivotal substance, we conclude that resource congruence (the use of nutrient types in a specified ratio) rather than any specific nutrient component is of key importance for maximum reproductive output. Further, dietary quality may affect egg hatching success in spite of no obvious effects on egg size and number. Thus, any implications about potential fitness effects of different diets need to consider egg (and hatchling) viability in addition to fecundity. r

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“…Mean diameter of a liposome was 4.270.2 mm. Thus, the intake of liposomes by the butterflies is not constrained by proboscis morphology (Molleman et al, 2005b).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Effects of adult nutrition on female reproduction in a fruit-feeding butterfly: The role of fruit decay and dietary lipids

Bauerfeind

Fischer

Hartstein

et al. 2007

Journal of Insect Physiology

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“…Notable exceptions to nectivory among the Lepidoptera include feeding from fruit, dung, and even vertebrate eye fluids (Büttiker et al 1996;Molleman et al 2005). However, most of the species that do not visit flowers are those that have atrophied mouthparts and simply do not feed as adults, such as many species in the superfamily Bombycoidea.…”

Section: Lepidopteramentioning

confidence: 99%

How many species of arthropods visit flowers?

Wardhaugh

2015

Arthropod-Plant Interactions

117

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The majority of living plant species are pollinated by insects, and this interaction is thought to have played a major role in driving the diversification of modern angiosperms. But while flower-insect interactions have been well studied from the perspective of plants in the form of pollination biology, few studies have been carried out from an entomological perspective, where flowers are resources to exploit. As a consequence, it remains unknown how many insect species actually utilise floral resources, especially since many flower-visitors do not carry out pollination and may therefore be widely ignored in pollination studies. In this review, I attempt to present an overview of the taxonomic range of flower-visiting invertebrates and estimate the proportion of described species that regularly utilise flowers. The flower-visiting habit has likely evolved independently hundreds of times across more than a dozen modern invertebrate orders. I speculate, based on reviewing the literature and discussions with experts, that *30 % of arthropod species ([350,000 described species) may regularly utilise flowers to feed, find a mate, or acquire other resources. When extrapolated to the estimated global diversity of the phylum Arthropoda, perhaps more than a million species regularly visit flowers. However, generating more accurate estimates will require much more work from the perspective of flower-visiting insects, including the often-ignored species that do not pollinate host plants. In particular, sampling techniques in addition to traditional observation protocols should be encouraged to ensure that all flower-visitors are recorded. Greater efforts to identify flower-visiting species beyond the level of order or family will also enhance our understanding of flower-visitor diversity.

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“…Furthermore, in V. indica, sugar-sensitive neurons are widely distributed in the tarsal sensilla (Morita et al 1957;Takeda 1961), whereas only a small proportion of the trichoid sensilla located laterally on the tarsi respond to sugar in Pieris rapae (Städler et al 1995). Alternatively, many lepidopteran adults have visible styloconic contact chemosensilla on the outside of the proboscis (e.g., Städler et al 1974;Sellier 1975;Altner and Altner 1986;Paulus and Krenn 1996;Krenn 1998;Krenn et al 2001;Petr and Stewart 2004;Molleman et al 2005;Kvello et al 2006). Three electrophysiological investigations have revealed the presence of sugar-sensitive neurons in the styloconic sensilla and their role in feeding behavior (Städler and Seabrook 1975;Blaney and Simmonds 1988;Ômura et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sugar receptor response of the food-canal taste sensilla in a nectar-feeding swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus

Inoue

Asaoka

Seta³

et al. 2008

Naturwissenschaften

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The feeding behavior in nectar-feeding insects is triggered by a sugar-receptor response in contact chemosensilla. The contact chemosensilla are distributed not only on tarsi and the outside of the proboscis but also on the inside of the food canal in Lepidoptera. Although the chemosensilla inside the food canal are assumed to detect sweet taste during the passage of nectar through the food canal, their electrophysiological function has received little attention. In the nectar-feeding Asian swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), we found 15-to 30-μm-long sensilla neatly lined up along the inside galea wall, which forms the food canal in the proboscis. The receptor neurons of these sensilla responded to sucrose. We hypothesized that starch and sucrose compete with each other for a taste receptor site on the sensilla. When we added starch and sucrose to the food-canal sensilla, the electrophysiological responses of food-canal sensilla were inhibited in parallel with the food-sucking behavior of the butterflies. These results suggest that the food-canal sensilla are involved in the behavioral control of nectar-sucking in this butterfly species.

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Food intake of fruit-feeding butterflies: evidence for adaptive variation in proboscis morphology

Cited by 49 publications

References 25 publications

Effects of adult nutrition on female reproduction in a fruit-feeding butterfly: The role of fruit decay and dietary lipids

Effects of adult nutrition on female reproduction in a fruit-feeding butterfly: The role of fruit decay and dietary lipids

How many species of arthropods visit flowers?

Sugar receptor response of the food-canal taste sensilla in a nectar-feeding swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus

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