Sugar preferences and feeding strategies in the hawkmoth Macroglossain stellatarum
Hummingbird hawkmoths were tested for their preferences for different types of sugar. In triple choice tests, moths sucked for longer periods from sucrose than from fructose and glucose. Naive moths released in a large flight cage and monitored over 24 days, drank on average 137 mul sucrose, 67 mul fructose and 7 mul glucose daily. In an independent test, moths spent more time feeding from sucrose