How to translate text using browser tools
1 April 2010 Are Corporal Allometric Measurements Good Predictors of Palatability in Neotropical Butterflies (Lepidoptera)?
Valéria Forni Martins, Ana Paula de Oliveira Alonso, Paulo Enrique Cardoso Peixoto, Gustavo Quevedo Romero
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Since palatable butterflies are more dependent on evasive flight to escape from predators, they should be more restricted in their flight-related morphology than unpalatable ones. We compared: the ratios between the (1) length of head plus thorax and the length of abdomen (A/B), (2) length of the tip of the head to wing base and the length of the wing base to end of the abdomen (C/D), (3) the variances of A/B and C/D, (4) the proportion between the thoracic and the body weight, and (5) the flight speed between palatable and unpalatable butterflies. A/B and thoracic/body weight were higher for palatable species, indicating higher body symmetry and muscular mass. However, flight speed did not differ. Unexpectedly, the variance of A/B was higher for palatable species while that of C/D did not differ. Therefore, corporal allometric measurements of Neotropical butterflies are good predictors of palatability, though not of flight speed.

Valéria Forni Martins, Ana Paula de Oliveira Alonso, Paulo Enrique Cardoso Peixoto, and Gustavo Quevedo Romero "Are Corporal Allometric Measurements Good Predictors of Palatability in Neotropical Butterflies (Lepidoptera)?," Entomological News 121(2), 172-185, (1 April 2010). https://doi.org/10.3157/021.121.0209
Received: 1 April 2009; Accepted: 1 June 2009; Published: 1 April 2010
KEYWORDS
Body symmetry
flight muscle
flight speed
Lepidoptera
morphological constraints
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top