Energy extraction efficiency in some chosen insects.

The termsenergy extraction efficiency andabsorption/assimilation efficiency are defined. The grasshopperPoecilocerus pictus extracts 15 or 27% energy contained in the food plantCalotropis gigantea, when the test animals were fed from hatching to death at 26 or 36°C. The energy extraction efficiency of some insects (Bombyx andHyalophora: terrestrial herbovores;Pyrrhosoma: aquatic carnivore) is about 7%, though their assimilation efficiency ranges from 42 to 97%. High ash content of food organisms deviates the energy extraction efficiency inPyrrhosoma and the aquatic dipteran herbivoreHedriodiscus.