Measuring proboscis length in Lepidoptera: a review

Mouthpart morphologies relate to diet range. Differences among or within species may result in resource partitioning and speciation. In plant-pollinator interactions, mouthpart length has an important role in foraging efficiency, resource partitioning and pollination, hence measuring nectarivorous i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zoomorphology 2021-03, Vol.140 (1), p.1-15
Main Authors: Vajna, Flóra, Kis, János, Szigeti, Viktor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Anatomy
Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Developmental Biology
Evolutionary Biology
Foraging
Histology
Length
Lepidoptera
Life Sciences
Measurement
Morphology
Morphometry
Mouth
Mouthparts
Plant reproduction
Pollination
Proboscis
Resource partitioning
Review
Sampling
Speciation
Specimen preparation
Statistical methods
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Summary:Mouthpart morphologies relate to diet range. Differences among or within species may result in resource partitioning and speciation. In plant-pollinator interactions, mouthpart length has an important role in foraging efficiency, resource partitioning and pollination, hence measuring nectarivorous insect mouthparts’ morphological variation is important. Most adult lepidopterans feed on nectars and participate in pollination. Although a vast range of studies applied morphometric measurements on lepidopteran proboscis (tongue) length, general recommendations on methodologies are scarce. We review available proboscis length measurement methodologies for Lepidoptera. Focusing on how proboscides have been measured, how accurate the measurements were, and how were these constrained by sampling effort, we searched for research articles investigating lepidopteran proboscis length and extracted variables on the aims of measurements, preparation and measurement methodology, and descriptive statistics. Different methods were used both for preparation and measurements. Many of the 135 reviewed papers did not provide descriptions of the procedures applied. Research aims were different among studies. Forty-four percent of the studies measured dead specimens, 13% measured living specimens, and 43% were unclear. Fifteen percent of the studies used callipers, 9% rulers, 1% millimetre scales, 4% ocular micrometers, 3% drawings and 14% photographs; 55% were non-informative. We emphasise the importance to provide detailed descriptions on the methods applied. Providing guidelines for future sampling and measurements, we encourage fellow researchers planning measurements to take into account the effect of specimen preparation techniques on the results, define landmarks, consider resolution, accuracy, precision, choose an appropriate sample size and report details on methodology.
ISSN:0720-213X
1432-234X
DOI:10.1007/s00435-020-00507-z