Butterflies feed on the flower nectar and juicy food items around their habitat using a tongue-like structure in their mouth part. They have a sense of taste and detect the plants and flowers that are safe to feed from their taste receptors.
Do Butterflies Have Tongues? Butterflies have specialized tongues known as proboscis, a long straw-like tube to siphon the nectar and liquid from the food items. They insert their long proboscis inside the flower corolla to collect nectar with the help of cyclic expansion and contraction of the muscular pump in their head. Moreover, the proboscis length varies among different species and ranges between 9-45 mm (0.9-4.5 cm).
They do not have teeth or jaws to grind the solid food particles and use their digestive system to excrete the fluids that make the substance moist for them, and they can conveniently suck the liquid from it.
What is the tongue of a butterfly called?
Butterflies have mouth parts and a tongue-like structure called proboscis. It is a long straw-like thin tube that serves as the drinking and sucking organ in their eating system.
They do not have a tongue like humans and many animals, but the long straw acts like a tongue and helps them siphon the liquid and nectar from the plants and flowers.
I loved to study the anatomy and behavior of these beautiful flying insects and read many articles and research theories about them.
Once, I read in research that these colorful flying insects extend their long tongue only when feeding on flowers and keep them inside their small mouth part under their chin.
It is made of many taste buds, and they taste the flower nectar and juice from these taste buds.
I was surprised to hear that these taste buds on their proboscis are connected with the nerves in their brain, such as the chemoreceptors linked with the nervous system.
The nerves become active when they sense the chemicals or the taste of the liquid and send signals to the nervous system.
The chemoreceptors help them sense different tastes, like salty, bitter, and sweet, and they respond according to the signals their brain receives through these taste receptors.
The chemoreceptors similarly help them as we smell and sense the taste of the food before going to eat it. However, their way of sensing is somewhat different from ours.
Do butterflies have two proboscis?
People think that butterflies have two proboscis, and this is true to some extent, as they have two slits of their tongue when they complete the chrysalis stage.
I was lucky enough to witness a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis stage, as I have some species in captivity.
I noticed that it had two proboscis, and I was surprised to see it because I never thought they had two parts of their tongue.
I searched for the reason behind it and came to know that it is composed of two C-shaped galeae or fibers that assemble or join together with the help of saliva.
The muscular pump in the butterfly’s head controls the saliva excretion, which reaches the gap between the two galeae and causes them to assemble together.
These insects push the saliva droplets back and forth and move their proboscis back and forth to ensure the correct assembly of two galeae and adjust their radius.
They continue releasing the saliva droplets until the galeae are joined and adjust accurately at their position. Each galea has many muscles, which help in the coiling and uncoiling of the proboscis.
The tubes are joined by a hook. They cannot collect the nectar with a deformed tongue. The liquid suction from flowers does not occur with split proboscis.
Moreover, I found that they have intrinsic galeal muscles, which help them to curl it. They suck the nectar due to the contraction and expansion of the sac in their head connected with the coiled tongue.
How do butterflies eat and taste their food?
They have more than one way to taste their food, as they have taste receptors on their feet, antennas, and proboscis.
Some species use feet and proboscis to taste, while others use feet, antennas, and their tongues-like structure.
For example, my friend told me that painted lady, blue morpho, and swallowtail butterflies use feet, proboscis, and antennas to taste and sense the chemicals. Monarch butterflies only use their feet and proboscis.
The female species also taste the plants and sense the chemicals by landing on them before laying eggs because they want to ensure the safety and proper food availability for caterpillars.
They insert it inside the flower corolla and move it while probing inside it. They repeatedly insert and withdraw the proboscis in the flower corolla and remain motionless when sucking nectar.
It exerts pressure using the cyclic contraction and expansion in the head pump. My friend explained the siphon process and said it consists of three phases: intake, ejection, and rest.
I was impressed with their feeding technique when he said that the head pump roof pulled dorsally to fill the food cavity with nectar and transport it in their digestive system.
Its tip is injected inside the flower leaves and corolla. It takes approximately 8-30 seconds for butterflies to siphon the nectar, depending on the food availability.
Why do butterflies have long tongues?
Its size varies with the species, as some butterflies have long proboscis, while others have short ones.
Its average length ranges from 9-45 mm (0.9-4.5 cm,) and the longest recorded proboscis length is 7 cm for hawk moth.
The blue-winged eurybia has a proboscis length of approximately 46 mm, and they can siphon the nectar from narrow corolla flowers without problems.
The species with tongue lengths less than 10 mm are considered to have short tongues, and the butterflies with proboscis lengths greater than 17 mm are known as long-tongue insects.
Once, my colleague told me about his research on the length of the tongue of many insects. It helps them collect more nectar and reach deep inside the flower corolla.
He said that its length varies with the preferred host plant that insects are adapted to feed from and their shape.
Moreover, it helps them with efficient feeding and maintaining accurate balance in their diet because the deformed and short tongue does not allow them to access the nectar deep inside the flowers.
Do caterpillars have tongue or proboscis?
Caterpillars do not have a proboscis, as they are in the developing stage and grow different body organs and appendages during their metamorphosis.
A few days ago, I met an entomologist from the USA who was addressing the crowd in a seminar. I got lucky to attend this seminar and asked him a few questions related to the metamorphosis of butterflies because I always loved to get information about these beautiful insects.
I asked him about the unique tongue of these insects, and he told me that the caterpillars have mandibles to eat the solid food available where they hatch, such as plant leaves and sometimes grass.
He further elaborates that the caterpillar has a specialized head capsule, which is a separate mouthpart for chewing, unlike the adults. They develop proboscis in the chrysalis stage.
Why do butterflies fold their proboscis?
Butterflies have long proboscis and do not extend it out all the time. They fold it under their chin and unfurl to siphon the nectar when feeding from the flowers and plants.
They curl it because the uncoiled proboscis will interrupt their flying patterns, and they cannot carry on their life activities with an uncoiled tongue.
It is a reflex action, and they unfold it when they land on a sweet and tasty food source and roll it back when done with feeding.
It is a sensitive and essential appendage of their bodies because they cannot survive without it, or a damaged one because it is the only way to suck the liquid and nectar. Therefore, they keep it fold and inside their mouthpart to avoid damage.
Do butterflies have lips?
Butterflies do not have lips because they do not possess anatomy and mouth parts like humans and animals.
They have their own adaptations and anatomy to survive in their habitat. Moreover, they do not have a proper mouth like many animals but only possess a long proboscis to feed on the flowers and other liquid food sources.
They do not have any use of lips in their feeding habits because they only use their coiled tongue to suck the liquid. Therefore, they do not need to have lips and can survive without them.
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