Fresh Weight, Dry Weight, and Fat Content of Adult African Butterflies Bicyclus anynana

Paul M. Brakefield; Patrícia Beldade; Bas J. Zwaan

doi:10.1101/pdb.prot5212

Protocol

Fresh Weight, Dry Weight, and Fat Content of Adult African Butterflies Bicyclus anynana

Institute of Biology, Leiden University, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands

↵¹Corresponding author (p.m.brakefield{at}biology.leidenuniv.nl)

This article is also available in Emerging Model Organisms: A Laboratory Manual, Vol. 1. CSHL Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA, 2009.

INTRODUCTION

For many biological processes, such as metabolic rate, starvation resistance, and fecundity, knowledge of body composition is important. This protocol describes how to measure fresh weight (FW), dry weight (DW), and fat-free dry weight (FFDW) of African butterfly Bicyclus anynana adults. From this, the weight of water and fat can be calculated, as well as water and fat fractions.