Uptake of liquid from wet surfaces by the brush-tipped proboscis of a butterfly

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of the brush-tipped proboscis of the Asian comma (Polygonia c-aureum) on wet-surface feeding. The tip region of this proboscis was observed, especially two microstructures; the intake slits through which liquid passes into the proboscis and the brush-like sensilla styloconica. The sensilla styloconica were connected laterally to the intake slits in the tip region. The liquid-feeding flow between the proboscis and the wet surface was measured by micro-particle image velocimetry. During liquid feeding, the sensilla styloconica region accumulates liquid by pinning the air-liquid interface to the tips of the sensilla styloconica, thus the intake slit region remains immersed. The film flow that passes through the sensilla styloconica region shows a parabolic velocity profile, and the corresponding flow rate is proportional to the cubed length of the sensilla styloconica. Based on these observations, we demonstrated that the sensilla styloconica promotes the uptake of liquid from wet surfaces. This study may inspire the development of a microfluidic device to collect liquid from moist substrates.