Food Digestibility Efficiency of Celerio euphorbiae L. (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)

Authors: Mahmut BİLGENER, Semiha UYSAL

Abstract: The larvae of Celerio euphorbiae L., which are monophagous at genus level in respect to food preference, feed only on the succulent species of the genus Euphorbia. The chemical analyses of Euphorbia rigida leaves, which are the natural food of the larvae showed that the total protein, starch and fiber contents were 19 ± 0.5 %, 40 ± 0.5 % and 37.5 ± 2.5 % respectively. In the results of the chemical analyses of C. euphorbiae larvae feces, it was found that the feces contained 13.5 ± 0.7 % total protein, 15.1 ± 0.4 % starch and 42.5 ± 2.5 % fiber. From these data, it was calculated that the larvae were able to digest 37.5 % of the proteins and 66.7 % of the starch.

Keywords: Celerio euphorbiae L., Euphorbia rigida, monophagous, total proteins, starch, fiber, digestibility.