Constant Volume Respirometry in the African Butterfly Bicyclus anynana

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

doi:10.1101/pdb.prot5213

Constant Volume Respirometry in the African Butterfly 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

This protocol describes the use of constant volume respirometry to measure CO₂ production by the African butterfly Bicyclus anynana. The instrument used is the TR-2 system from Sable Systems International. In this setup, dry CO₂-free air is sequentially pumped through 16 sealed chambers. The CO₂ produced by the butterflies is subsequently measured with an infrared CO₂ detector. CO₂ production (μL/ h) by individual butterflies is an index of the resting metabolic rate (RMR). The RMR of each individual is corrected for weight, preferably after removal of water and fat mass, to allow comparison of the RMRs among individuals.