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Table 1 Measured no-beam metabolic rates and absorbed powers under x-ray irradiation (25 keV, 80 μW/mm2) for the four species studied.

From: Real-time phase-contrast x-ray imaging: a new technique for the study of animal form and function

Species

Measured metabolic rate (no-beam, μW)

Measured absorbed power (μW)

Grasshopper (adult)

2772 ± 248 (N = 2, 1250.0 ± 2.8 mg)

83.5 (head, N = 1, 1258.8 mg)

Grasshopper (juvenile)

230 ± 65 (N = 1, 64.3 mg)

26.0 (head, N = 1, 75.1 mg)

Beetle

441 ± 184 (N = 20, 46.6 ± 9.2 mg)

13.0 (head, N = 2, 40.1 mg)

Ant

127 ± 62 (N = 59, 21.4 ± 8.3 mg)

11.7 (head, N = 2, 19.2 ± 5.0 mg)

15.0 (thorax, N = 2, 19.2 ± 5.0 mg)

33.8 (abdomen, N = 2, 19.2 ± 5.0 mg)

Fruit fly

31 ± 9 (N = 28, 1.4 ± 0.3 mg)

1.3 (head, N = 2)

  1. Except for grasshoppers, reported metabolic rate measurements are averages of all available no-beam CO2 recordings for each of the four species. For grasshoppers, metabolic rates were not averaged due to the wide mass distribution. Conversion from CO2 output to metabolic rate assumed an energy equivalence of 20.1, 24.5, 27.6 and 21.2 J/ml of CO2 for grasshoppers [37], beetles [38], ants [39], and fruit flies [40]. Except for grasshoppers and ant abdomen, the beam was larger than the part of the animal being irradiated. Under nominal beam intensities, the absorbed power due to the x-ray irradiation was less than 20% of the unirradiated metabolic rate. Values are mean ± SD.
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BMC Biology

ISSN: 1741-7007

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