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Gravimetric vs. respirometric determination of metabolic efficiency in caterpillars of Pieris brassicae
Author(s) -
Loon J. J. A.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/j.1570-7458.1993.tb01661.x
Subject(s) - respirometry , lepidoptera genitalia , biology , pieris brassicae , pieridae , gravimetry , gravimetric analysis , respirometer , botany , horticulture , respiration , biochemistry , chemistry , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , engineering , reservoir modeling
Conventional gravimetry and a combination of gravimetry and respirometry were compared for their precision in measuring respiration and metabolic efficiency of growth of final stadium Pieris brassicae L. (Pieridae, Lepidoptera) caterpillars. This was done both for caterpillars feeding on an artificial diet and for caterpillars feeding on excised leaf material of a host plant, Brassica oleracea L. Gravimetry produced significantly greater variation in the total amount of matter respired and the metabolic efficiency than indirect calorimetry for caterpillars feeding on plant material, while the two methods gave similar results for the caterpillars reared on a meridic artificial diet. Respirometry (indirect calorimetry) revealed that caterpillars feeding on the artificial diet were growing with a higher metabolic efficiency than caterpillars feeding on the host plant. This difference was not revealed by conventional gravimetry. It is argued that metabolic efficiencies as derived from gravimetric budget calculations are subject to a number of random errors that distort precise determination of metabolic efficiencies in studies involving plant food.