Increase in respiratory rate during feeding in larvae of the armyworm, Spodoptera exempta

Abstract

Abstract Oxygen consumption was measured in fifth and sixth instar larvae of Spodoptera exempta (Walker) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) at 25d̀C using Warburg manometry. The mean rate of oxygen consumption while feeding on maize or sorghum leaves was approximately twice that at rest. The increment in oxygen consumption attributable to feeding was 583±207 μlg‐ 1 h‐ l (mean±95% confidence limits) or, for maize, 6.1±3.5 μl O 2 per mg of leaf eaten.