Natures wonders: fly and butterfly drinking (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, April 14, 2017, 23:16 (2778 days ago) @ David Turell

They both as independently developed narrow tubes in which the fluid rises by capillary action:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170413164207.htm

"Butterflies and flies have mouthparts that have a channel for fluids to travel from the liquid source to the head for ingestion, Lehnert said. This study also found that there is a limiting pore size from which each individual can feed -- butterflies and flies with smaller mouthpart channels will be able to feed on liquids from smaller pores, which might have an advantage for the insects and more broadly for the ecosystem in case of a drought.

"Lehnert, three of his Kent State Stark undergraduate student assistants and four other researchers found that flies, butterflies and moths (20 percent of all animals) use capillary action, or the movement of liquids seamlessly from one place to another, as the guiding principle when feeding on liquid films -- their primary source of food. An insect's proboscis, a body part that allows them to drink liquids, acts like a highly-sophisticated sponge and straw that uses capillary action to send nectar or other liquids to the insect's diges tive system.

***

"In order to feed on nectar and other liquid films, natural selection has favored the evolution of specialized mouthparts in fluid-feeding insects. In butterflies and flies, the mouthparts consist of a proboscis adapted for using capillary action to pull thin films of fluid from surfaces for subsequent feeding. Usually, the proboscis of flies and butterflies is held close to the underside of the head when not in use and when the insect is searching for food.

"The team's findings show that capillary action is an essential and ideal method for removing small amounts of fluids from surfaces, Lehnert said.

***

"'It was previously known that flies and butterflies independently evolved mouthparts adapted for feeding on fluids, but what was unknown before our study was that they both use the same principles for ingesting fluids -- capillary action," Lehnert said. "Our findings have applications to the production of novel microfluidic devices that can be developed to mimic the functionality of insect mouthparts, which have the advantage of being impacted by natural selection over millions of years.'"

Comment: If these insects had to wait for natural selection to develop these very narrow channels, how did they drink before the development? Perhaps a saltation by God. The very special properties of water, which is vital for life, allow for capillary action, the same action that allows trees to send water up from roots to their tops. Also designed by God so life can exist even if the organisms does not have the capacity to suck water.