Erhardt Andreas
Botanisches Institut der Universität Basel, Schönbeinstrasse 6, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland.
Oecologia. 1992 Jul;90(4):581-585. doi: 10.1007/BF01875453.
Preferences for nectar sugars and amino acids ofOrnithoptera priamus butterflies were tested experimentally. Both male and female butterflies clearly preferred a sucrose solution over a glucose solution of equal concentration (25%, weight to total weight) and equally a fructose solution over a glucose solution. A significant trend of males to prefer fructose over sucrose and of females to prefer sucrose over fructose was detected. However, neither males nor females discriminated between a mimic ofLantana camara nectar containing amino acids and a corresponding plain sugar solution. These results suggest that butterflies select against glucose in floral nectar but do not support the hypothesis that butterflies select for high levels of amino acids in nectar. The rather unspecific response ofOrnithoptera priamus butterflies to the tested nectar constituents may reflect a generalist feeding strategy of these long-lived and spectacular butterflies.
对鸟翼裳凤蝶花蜜中糖类和氨基酸的偏好进行了实验测试。雄性和雌性蝴蝶都明显更喜欢蔗糖溶液而非等浓度（25%，重量与总重量之比）的葡萄糖溶液，同样也更喜欢果糖溶液而非葡萄糖溶液。检测到雄性有偏好果糖而非蔗糖的显著趋势，雌性则有偏好蔗糖而非果糖的显著趋势。然而，无论是雄性还是雌性，都无法区分含有氨基酸的马缨丹花蜜模拟物和相应的纯糖溶液。这些结果表明，蝴蝶在花蜜中会选择避开葡萄糖，但并不支持蝴蝶会选择花蜜中高含量氨基酸这一假设。鸟翼裳凤蝶对所测试的花蜜成分的相当不特定的反应，可能反映了这些长寿且引人注目的蝴蝶的一种泛食性取食策略。
