Observations on the Behavioural Sequences of Looping and Drifting by Blackfly 
Larvae (Diptera: Simuliidae)

Reidelbach, Joachim; Kiel, Ellen

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Observations on the Behavioural Sequences of Looping and Drifting by Blackfly Larvae (Diptera: Simuliidae)

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Reidelbach, Joachim
Limnological River Station Schlitz, Max Planck Institute for Limnology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Reidelbach, J., & Kiel, E. (1990). Observations on the Behavioural Sequences of Looping and Drifting by Blackfly Larvae (Diptera: Simuliidae). Aquatic Insects, 12(1), 49-60.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-000F-CA51-A

Abstract

Video equipment was used to record the behaviour of larval blackflies in a laboratory stream simulating natural current and substratum conditions. In this way it was possible to identify the following behavioural patterns associated with locomotion: Landing: The first contact of drifting larvae with a new substratum was made with the mouthparts by means of a sticky secretion (silk). A "landing silk pad" was created on the substratum, with the abdomen hanging freely in the current. The abdominal hook circlet was then fixed to the new silk pad. Changing the attachment site: "Looping" behaviour depended on whether the larvae were wandering across the substratum, or preparing for a long term attachment. They attached themselves for up to several hours, generally in order to filter feed.