Artificial diet trials for the butterfly Jalmenus evagoras (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
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Authors
Drumm, Kathryn D.
Issue Date
2007-04-27
Type
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Rearing insects can be costly and time consuming, particularly if their food source is a
living plant. Thus, it is often more efficient to raise insects on artificial diets.
Most successful artificial diets have a nutritional composition and physical texture that is
similar to the insect’s natural food. The basic nutritional components of an artificial insect diet
are proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, and minerals, just like human diets.
Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) are commonly used in experiments and, as larvae, most
feed on plants. For many reasons the majority of diets developed for lepidoterans have been
devised for moths, not butterflies. Because butterflies tend to have more specific dietary
preferences, they do not usually accept artificial diets originally devised for moths.
The endemic Australian butterfly Jalmenus evagoras (Lycaenidae) has been used as a model
organism in research regarding symbiose between ants and butterflies. In order to study this
symbiosis, the cultivating of both partners in the laboratory is required. All species of Jalmenus
feed on plants in the genus Acacia, which are time consuming and somewhat labor intensive to
grow in a greenhouse. Therefore, it would be beneficial to develop an artificial diet on which to
rear the Jalmenus larvae.
There have been no publications on artificial diets specifically used for rearing J. evagoras
caterpillars, but diets developed for other lepidopterans, and butterflies in particular, can be
used as a starting point. The purpose of this study was to develop an artificial diet that allowed
for successful development of J. evagoras larvae and that resulted in healthy, viable adults
comparable to butterflies reared on host plant cuttings. To achieve this I prepared a range of
Lepidoptera diets found in the literature. I monitored larval survivorship and development and
compared these measures to those of larvae reared on fresh host plant cuttings alone. Diets
which showed promising results were then modified in an attempt to increase their
effectiveness.
Description
1 broadside : ill.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo College