Abstract
A HIGH ratio of the C16 : 1 fatty acid, palmitoleic (more than 15 per cent of the total fatty acids), is claimed to bo one feature that distinguishes Diptera from other orders of insects1–3. The high content of palmitoleic acid in the larval fats of five of the eight lepidopteran species reported here, as well as the low content in two Cecido-myiidae (Diptera)4, indicate that fatty acid composition is not reliably correlated with systematic position in insects. We suggest that high palmitoleic acid concentrations in Lepidoptera enable them to overwinter as larvae.
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BRACKEN, G., HARRIS, P. High Palmitoleic Acid in Lepidoptera. Nature 224, 84–85 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/224084a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/224084a0
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