Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A comparative survey of proboscis morphology and associated structures in fruit-piercing, tear-feeding, and blood-feeding moths in Calpinae (Lepidoptera: Erebidae)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Zoomorphology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Functional feeding categories for adult species of Calpinae are described. Structures associated with the proboscis were examined using exemplar species in fruit-piercing, blood-feeding, and tear-feeding species using both light microscopy and SEM methods. At least three genera currently placed in Calpini, and several others in related groups lack specialized piercing structures. The proboscis of the tear-feeding species, Hemiceratoides hieroglyphica, is equipped with specialized cuticular hooks not yet observed in other tear-feeding species. Tearing hooks moveable by blood pressure are restricted to Calpini species, and little additional variation within this taxon exists, suggesting proboscis morphology may not be strongly correlated with feeding behavior (e.g., fruit piercing vs. blood feeding). A glossary of terms and character codings for proboscis structures is provided, and morphologies for all included calpine taxa are described. We discuss the taxonomic significance of proboscis morphology in Calpinae and the evolutionary implications of their associated feeding behaviors. This survey indicates morphology provides powerful prediction, but not proof of lepidopteran adult food habits.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altner H, Altner I (1986) Sensilla with both terminal pore and wall pores on the proboscis of the moth, Rhodogastria bubo Walker (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae). Zool Anz 216:129–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Bänziger H (1969) A first record of fruit-piercing noctuid moths in Europe. Naturwissenschaften 56:218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bänziger H (1970) The piercing mechanism of the fruit-piercing moth Calpe [Calyptra] thalictri Bkh. (Noctuidae) with reference to the skin-piercing blood-sucking moth C. eustrigata Hmps. Acta Trop 27:53–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Bänziger H (1971a) Extension and coiling of the lepidopterous proboscis—a new interpretation of the blood-pressure theory. Mitt Schweiz Entomol Ges 43:225–239

    Google Scholar 

  • Bänziger H (1971b) Blood-sucking moths of Malaya. Fauna 1:3–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Bänziger H (1973 [1972]) Biologie der lacriphagen Lepidopteren in Thailand and Malaya. Rev Suisse Zool 79:1381–1469

  • Bänziger H (1980) Skin-piercing blood-sucking moths III: feeding act and piercing mechanism of Calyptra eustrigata (Hmps.) (Lep., Noctuidae). Mitt Schweiz Entomol Ges 53:127–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Bänziger H (1982) Fruit-piercing moths (Lep., Noctuidae) in Thailand: a general survey and some new perspectives. Mitt Schweiz Entomol Ges 55:213–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Bänziger H (1986) Skin-piercing blood-sucking moths IV: biological studies on adults of 4 Calyptra species and 2 subspecies (Lep., Noctuidae). Mitt Schweiz Entomol Ges 59:111–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Bänziger H (1987) Biological and taxonomic studies on immature and adult fruit-piercing moths in Nepal, with reference to Thailand. Nat Hist Bull Siam Soc 35:1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Bänziger H (1989) Skin-piercing blood-sucking moths V: attacks on man by 5 Calyptra spp. (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) in S and SE Asia. Mitt Schweiz Entomol Ges 62:215–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Bänziger H (1992) Remarkable new cases of moths drinking human tears in Thailand (Lepidoptera: Thyatiridae, Sphingidae, Notodontidae). Nat Hist Bull Siam Soc 40:91–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Bänziger H (2007) Skin-piercing blood-sucking moths VI: fruit-piercing habits in Calyptra (Noctuidae) and notes on the feeding strategies of zoophilous and frugivorous adult Lepidoptera. Mitt Schweiz Entomol Ges 80:271–288

    Google Scholar 

  • Breitenbach W (1877) Vorläufige Mittheilung über einige neue Untersuchungen an Schmetterlingsrüsseln. Arch Mikrosk Anat 14:308–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Büttiker W (1973) Vorläufige Beobachtungen an augenbesuchenden Schmetterlingen in der Elfenbeinküste. Rev Suisse Zool 80:1–43

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Büttiker W, Krenn HW, Putterill J (1996) The proboscis of eye-frequenting and piercing Lepidoptera. Zoomorphology 116:77–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cochereau P (1977) Biologie et écologie des populations en Nouvelle-Calédonie d’un papillon piqueur de fruits: Othreis fullonia Clerck (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Catocalinae). Travaux et documents de l’O.R.S.T.O.M. No. 71, 322 pp

  • Davis D (1986) A new family of monotrysian moths from austral South America (Lepidoptera: Palaephatidae), with a phylogenetic review on the Monotrysia. Smithson Contrib Zool 434:1–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans HE (1984) Insect biology: a textbook of entomology. Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Reading, p 436

    Google Scholar 

  • Faucheux MJ (1985) Morphology and distribution of antennal sensilla in the female and male clothes moth, Tineola bisselliella Humm. (Lepidoptera: Tineidae). Can J Zool 63:355–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faucheux MJ (1991) Morphology and distribution of sensilla on the cephalic appendages, tarsi and ovipositor of the European sunflower moth, Homoeosoma nebulella Den. & Schiff. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Int J Insect Morphol Embryol 20:291–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faucheux MJ (1995) Sensilla on the antennae, mouthparts, tarsi and ovipositor of the sunflower moth, Homoeosoma electellum (Hulster) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae): a scanning electron microscopic study. Ann Sci Nat 16:121–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Fibiger M, Lafontaine D (2005) A review of the higher classification of the Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera) with special reference to the Holarctic fauna. Esperiana 11:7–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Goater B, Ronkay L, Fibiger M (2003) Catocalinae and Plusiinae. Noctuidae Europeae, vol 10. Entomological Press, Sorø

    Google Scholar 

  • Grimaldi D, Engel MS (2005) Evolution of the insects. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, p 755

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallberg E (1981) Fine-structural characteristics of the antennal sensilla of Agrotis segetum (Insecta: Lepidoptera). Cell Tissue Res 218:209–218

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hallberg, E, Hansson, BS, Steinbrecht, RA (1994) Morpological characteristics of antennal sensilla in the European cornborer Ostrinia nubilalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Tissue Cell 26:489–502

    Google Scholar 

  • Hattori I (1969) Fruit-piercing moths in Japan. Jpn Agric Res (Quarterly) 4:32–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Heppner JB, Lamas G (1982) Acronyms for world museum collections of insects, with an emphasis on neotropical Lepidoptera. Bull Entomol Soc Am 28:305–315

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilgartner R, Raoilison M, Büttiker W, Lees DC, Krenn HW (2007) Malagasy birds as hosts for eye-frequenting moths. Biol Lett 3(2):117–120. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0581

    Google Scholar 

  • Holloway JD (2005) The Moths of Borneo, parts 15 & 16 (Noctuidae: Catocalinae), subfamilies Euteliinae, Stictopterinae, Plusiinae, Pantheinae. Malay Nat J 58:1–529

    Google Scholar 

  • Holloway JD, Kibby G, Peggie D (2001 [2000]) The families of Malesian moths and butterflies. In: Fauna Malesiana handbook, vol 3. Brill, Leiden

  • Jack RW (1922) Insect pests of fruits other than citrus in Southern Rhodesia. Rhod Agr J 19:569–582

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitching IJ, Rawlins JE (1998) Superfamily Noctuoidea. In Kristensen NP (ed) Handbuch der Zoologie 4 (Arthropoda), (2) Insecta, (35) Lepidoptera. Moths and butterflies, vol 1: evolution, systematics and biogeography. 351–401. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, pp x + 494

  • Krenn HW (1990) Functional morphology and movements of the proboscis of Lepidoptera (Insecta). Zoomorphology 110:105–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krenn HW (1997) Proboscis assembly in Lepidoptera-a once in a lifetime sequence of events. Eur J Entomol 94:495–501

    Google Scholar 

  • Krenn HW (1998) Proboscis sensilla in Vanessa cardui (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)-functional morphology and significance in flower-probing. Zoomorphology 118:23–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krenn HW (2010) Feeding mechanisms of adult Lepidoptera: structure, function, and evolution of the mouthparts. Annu Rev Entomol 55:307–327

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Krenn HW, Kristensen NP (2000) Early evolution of the proboscis of Lepidoptera (Insecta): external morphology of the galea in basal glossatan moth lineages, with remarks on the origin of the pilfers. Zool Anz 239:179–196

    Google Scholar 

  • Krenn HW, Mühlberger N (2002) Groundplan anatomy of the proboscis of butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea). Zool Anz 241:369–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krenn HW, Penz CM (1998) Mouthparts of Heliconius butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae): a search for anatomical adaptations to pollen-feeding behavior. Int J Insect Morphol Embryol 27:301–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krenn HW, Zulka KP, Gatschnegg T (2001) Proboscis morphology and food preferences in Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea). J Zool (Lond) 253:17–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kristensen NP (1968) The morphology and functional evolution of the mouthparts in adult Lepidoptera. Opusc Entomol 33:1–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Kristensen NP (1984) Studies on the morphology and systematics of primitive Lepidoptera (Insecta). Steenstrupia 10:141–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Kristensen NP, Nielsen ES (1981) Intrinsic proboscis musculature in nonditrysian Lepidoptera-Glossata: structure and phylogenetic significance. Entomol Scand Suppl 15:299–304

    Google Scholar 

  • Künckel J (1875) Les Lépidoptères à trompe perforante, destructeurs des oranges (Ophidères). C R Assoc Anat 81:397–400

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen ES, Kristensen NP (1996) The Australian moth family Lophocoronidae and the basal phylogeny of the Lepidoptera-Glossata. Invertebr Taxon 10:1192–1302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norris MJ (1935) The feeding habits of the adult Lepidoptera Heteroneura. Trans R Entomol Soc Lond 85:61–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quammen D (1985) Avatars of the soul in Malaya, pp 47–52. In: Natural acts: a sidelong view of science and nature. Nick Lyons Books, NY, 221 pp

  • Ramakrishna Ayyar TV (1944) Notes on some fruit-sucking moths of the Decan. Indian J Entomol 5:29–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Speidel W, Fanger H, Naumann CM (1996) The surface microstructure of the noctuid proboscis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Zool Anz 234:307–315

    Google Scholar 

  • Todd EL (1959) The fruit-piercing moths of the genus Gonodonta Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Technical Bulletin No. 1201, Agriculture Research Service United States Department of Agriculture, Washington D.C.

  • Yoon JK, Lee DK (1974) Survey of fruit-piercing moths in Korea (1) species of the fruit-piercing moths and their damage. Kor J Plant Protect 13:217–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Zaspel JM (2008a) Skin-piercing and blood-feeding moths. In: Capinera JL (ed) Encyclopedia of entomology, 2nd edn. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 3383–3386

    Google Scholar 

  • Zaspel JM (2008b) Systematics, biology, and behavior of fruit-piercing and blood-feeding moths in the subfamily Calpinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville

  • Zaspel JM, Branham MA (2008) World checklist of tribe Calpini (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Calpinae). Insecta Mundi 0047:1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Zaspel JM, Kononenko VS, Goldstein PZ (2007) Another blood feeder? Experimental feeding by a fruit-piercing moth on human blood in the Primorye region of Far Eastern Russia. J Insect Behav 20:437–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was inspired by the numerous papers of Dr. Bänziger and his passion for Calyptra. The authors thank the Florida Department of Agriculture, Division of Plant Industries, Gainesville, FL, for the use of their SEM facility and Paul Skelly for his assistance with the imaging equipment as well as Branden Apitz for assistance with SEM formatting. Roland Hilgartner and Harry Fay kindly provided two adult feeding images (Fig. 1e, d). We also thank Harald Krenn for suggestions on an earlier review of this manuscript. This project was funded in part by NSF-DDIG0807975 (Branham, Zaspel) and NSF-DEB0531639 (Weller).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biology and Microbiology Department, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, 800 Algoma Boulevard, Oshkosh, WI, 54901, USA

    Jennifer M. Zaspel

  2. Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, 1980 Folwell Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA

    Jennifer M. Zaspel & S. J. Weller

  3. Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota, 10 Church Street, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Jennifer M. Zaspel & S. J. Weller

  4. Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, P.O. Box 110620, Natural Area Drive, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    M. A. Branham

Authors
  1. Jennifer M. Zaspel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. J. Weller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. A. Branham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer M. Zaspel.

Additional information

Communicated by T. Bartolomaeus.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zaspel, J.M., Weller, S.J. & Branham, M.A. A comparative survey of proboscis morphology and associated structures in fruit-piercing, tear-feeding, and blood-feeding moths in Calpinae (Lepidoptera: Erebidae). Zoomorphology 130, 203–225 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-011-0132-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-011-0132-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation