Barbehenn R V
Department of Entomological Sciences, University of California, 94720, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Oecologia. 1992 Feb;89(2):229-235. doi: 10.1007/BF00317222.
Cynodon dactylon (Poaceae) leaf pieces recovered from the frass of final-instar Paratrytone melane larvae (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) were composed of 14-22 percent crushed cells and 78-86 percent uncrushed cells, yet approximate digestibilities of soluble carbohydrates and protein averaged 78 and 88 percent, respectively. Therefore, nutrients from uncrushed cells were extracted by P. melane. The ability of P. melane and another leaf-snipping lepidopteran, Pseudaletia unipuncta (Noctuidae), to digest the contents of uncrushed bundle sheath and mesophyll cells in C. dactylon was examined with transmission electron microscopy. Organelles and plasma membranes were digested in the foreguts and midguts of both species. These findings suggest that nutrients in uncrushed leaf cells may be extracted through plasmodesmata and cell wall pores after membranes are digested. The generality of leaf-snipping, vis-a-vis leaf crushing, among larval Lepidoptera was assessed by surveying the mandible morphologies of 202 species. In 82 percent of the species surveyed only incisor regions were present. I conclude that leaf-snipping is a common mode of feeding among phytophagous Lepidoptera and that the digestion of cell contents is efficient despite the fact that few of the cells of ingested plant tissues are crushed.
从末龄黑带副弄蝶（鳞翅目：弄蝶科）粪便中回收的狗牙根（禾本科）叶片碎片由14%-22%的破碎细胞和78%-86%的未破碎细胞组成，然而可溶性碳水化合物和蛋白质的近似消化率分别平均为78%和88%。因此，未破碎细胞中的营养物质被黑带副弄蝶提取。利用透射电子显微镜研究了黑带副弄蝶和另一种剪叶鳞翅目昆虫——一点粘虫（夜蛾科）消化狗牙根中未破碎维管束鞘细胞和叶肉细胞内容物的能力。两种昆虫的前肠和中肠中的细胞器和质膜均被消化。这些发现表明，未破碎叶细胞中的营养物质可能在膜被消化后通过胞间连丝和细胞壁孔隙被提取。通过调查202种昆虫的下颚形态，评估了幼虫鳞翅目昆虫中剪叶相对于碎叶的普遍性。在82%的被调查物种中仅存在切齿区域。我得出结论，剪叶是植食性鳞翅目昆虫常见的取食方式，并且尽管摄入的植物组织中很少有细胞被破碎，但细胞内容物的消化效率很高。
