Hydrophobic–hydrophilic dichotomy of the butterfly proboscis

Hydrophobic-hydrophilic dichotomy of the butterfly proboscis.

Mouthparts of fluid-feeding insects have unique material properties with no human-engineered analogue: the feeding devices acquire sticky and viscous liquids while remaining clean. We discovered that the external surface of the butterfly proboscis has a sharp boundary separating a hydrophilic drinking region and a hydrophobic non-drinking region. The structural arrangement of the proboscis prov...

Paradox of the drinking-straw model of the butterfly proboscis.

Fluid-feeding Lepidoptera use an elongated proboscis, conventionally modeled as a drinking straw, to feed from pools and films of liquid. Using the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus), we show that the inherent structural features of the lepidopteran proboscis contradict the basic assumptions of the drinking-straw model. By experimentally characterizing permeability and flow in the p...

Pieris rapae – a nectar feeding butterfly: Composition of the cuticle of the proboscis

Uptake of liquid from wet surfaces by the brush-tipped proboscis of a butterfly

This study investigated the effect of the brush-tipped proboscis of the Asian comma (Polygonia c-aureum) on wet-surface feeding. The tip region of this proboscis was observed, especially two microstructures; the intake slits through which liquid passes into the proboscis and the brush-like sensilla styloconica. The sensilla styloconica were connected laterally to the intake slits in the tip reg...

Butterfly proboscis: combining a drinking straw with a nanosponge facilitated diversification of feeding habits.

The ability of Lepidoptera, or butterflies and moths, to drink liquids from rotting fruit and wet soil, as well as nectar from floral tubes, raises the question of whether the conventional view of the proboscis as a drinking straw can account for the withdrawal of fluids from porous substrates or of films and droplets from floral tubes. We discovered that the proboscis promotes capillary pull o...