Table 2.
Proboscis length and food canal diameter of Prosoeca sp. and three nectar-feeding butterflies with comparable proboscis lengths. Figures indicate mean +1 standard deviation; sample size is in brackets. C is the ratio of the proximal to distal diameter of the food canal. The proboscis length and food canal diameters are parameters used previously in the Kingsolver and Daniel (1979) model regarding the fluid flow in lepidopterous proboscides
| Species | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prosoeca sp. | E. lycisca a | A. vanilla b | P. sennae b | |
| Proboscis length [mm] | 37.28 ± 5.04 (20) | 36.5 ± 4.1 (20) | 19.2 ± 1.8 (18) | 29.5 ± 2.2 (9) |
| Proximal diameter [μm] | 196.42 ± 16.14 (5) | 74 (1) | 79.5 ± 3.31 (4) | 86.5 ± 3.44 (2) |
| Distal diameter [μm] | 129.51 ± 15.65 (5) | 58 (1) | 59.7 ± 2.20 (4) | 55.4 ± 27.1 (2) |
| C | 1.53 ± 0.12 (5) | 1.28 | 1.33 ± 0.09 | 1.56 ± 0.01 |