Emergence of blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) from a small forested stream in Ontario

Three species of blackflies were found in emergence-trap samples taken overa period of 8 months from a second-order, forested, cold-stenothermal stream in southern Ontario. The emergence phenologies of the two common species, Prosimulium mixtum and Stegopterna mutata, are described and compared with their phenologies in other streams in North America. Hypotheses are presented for the poor faunal diversity and prolonged emergence of the two species in the stream studied. Emergence data are used to describe the pupal distribution in the stream.Wing-length measurements showed a distinct dimorphism in P. mixtum: females were larger than males. Adult size (except of P. mixtum females) varied among sampling sites in the stream and, in the case of S. mutata, this variation was time dependent.     

Oviposition aggregation pheromone in the Simulium damnosum complex

Abstract. Communal oviposition by the Simulium damnosum complex of Afrotropical blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) was investigated under controlled laboratory conditions, using wild-caught flies in Sierra Leone. Volatile compounds emitted by Simulium eggs were trapped using a closed collection system, and their attractiveness to gravid flies was tested in a two-choice behavioural bioassay. Significantly more female blackflies oviposited on substrates baited with freshly laid eggs (100% chose the baited substrate), or with the volatiles collected from freshly laid eggs (85% chose the baited substrate), in preference to the relevant control substrates. Substrates baited with volatiles from 12-h-old eggs were not significantly more attractive than controls (only 31% chose the baited substrates; P = 0.33). Gas chromatographic analysis of the egg volatiles consistently showed two peaks emanating from fresh eggs, but significantly lower amounts from 12-h-old eggs ( P <0.05). A novel system for collecting the volatiles from this and other blackfly species, as they laid eggs on a substrate in flowing water, is described. Volatiles collected using this method showed identical gas chromatographic profiles to those of fresh eggs alone, indicating that the flies themselves produced no other volatile chemical signals during oviposition. Evidently communal oviposition by S. damnosum s.l . was mediated by a pheromone emanating from fresh eggs. The role of pheromone-mediated egg aggregation in blackfly ecology is discussed, and its possible manipulation is considered.     

Factors influencing silhouette trap captures of the blackfly Austrosimulium bancrofti in Queensland, Australia

Three silhouette traps of novel design were used to investigate the trap finding ability of female Austrosimulium bancrofti (Taylor) (Diptera: Simuliidae) in southeast Queensland. The traps were 'upright', 'elongate' or 'square' in shape. Five highly significant factors: hour after sunrise, temperature, relative humidity, trap shape and distance between traps, were included in a model which generated fitted estimates of flies captured under defined conditions. The rate of increase and the level of maximum capture rate indicated that the elongate trap captured the highest numbers of blackflies. An interaction between hour after sunrise and temperature suggests a strong endogenous modification of trap finding activity. Numbers captured increased with increasing distance between traps and decreasing relative humidity. The importance of these results in understanding behaviour of A. bancrofti is discussed.     

A hierarchical nest survival model integrating incomplete temporally varying covariates

Nest success is a critical determinant of the dynamics of avian populations, and nest survival modeling has played a key role in advancing avian ecology and management. Beginning with the development of daily nest survival models, and proceeding through subsequent extensions, the capacity for modeling the effects of hypothesized factors on nest survival has expanded greatly. We extend nest survival models further by introducing an approach to deal with incompletely observed, temporally varying covariates using a hierarchical model. Hierarchical modeling offers a way to separate process and observational components of demographic models to obtain estimates of the parameters of primary interest, and to evaluate structural effects of ecological and management interest. We built a hierarchical model for daily nest survival to analyze nest data from reintroduced whooping cranes (Grus americana) in the Eastern Migratory Population. This reintroduction effort has been beset by poor reproduction, apparently due primarily to nest abandonment by breeding birds. We used the model to assess support for the hypothesis that nest abandonment is caused by harassment from biting insects. We obtained indices of blood‐feeding insect populations based on the spatially interpolated counts of insects captured in carbon dioxide traps. However, insect trapping was not conducted daily, and so we had incomplete information on a temporally variable covariate of interest. We therefore supplemented our nest survival model with a parallel model for estimating the values of the missing insect covariates. We used Bayesian model selection to identify the best predictors of daily nest survival. Our results suggest that the black fly Simulium annulus may be negatively affecting nest survival of reintroduced whooping cranes, with decreasing nest survival as abundance of S. annulus increases. The modeling framework we have developed will be applied in the future to a larger data set to evaluate the biting‐insect hypothesis and other hypotheses for nesting failure in this reintroduced population; resulting inferences will support ongoing efforts to manage this population via an adaptive management approach. Wider application of our approach offers promise for modeling the effects of other temporally varying, but imperfectly observed covariates on nest survival, including the possibility of modeling temporally varying covariates collected from incubating adults.     

A spectrophotometric technique for measuring particle ingestion by black fly larvae

A spectrophotometric technique was developed to provide insight into the feeding behavior of Simulium vittatum Zetterstedt (Diptera: Simuliidae) larvae. Larvae were exposed to water insoluble Neon Red particles (NRP) (DayGlo^®) in a controlled current. The insoluble particles were available for capture by the cephalic fans of the larvae and subsequent ingestion. The length of gut occupied by the particles after a given exposure time was determined by visual inspection and measured with the aid of a dissecting microscope. Larvae were then homogenized in acetone to solubilize the particles. After filtration, the quantity of pigmented particles in the alimentary tract of the larvae was determined using spectrophotometric analysis. The quantity of particles per unit length of the alimentary tract was calculated. Experiments were conducted to determine the ideal concentration of NRP for obtaining an accurate measure of ingestion without interfering with normal larval feeding behavior. Larval mortality following ingestion of insecticidal proteins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis was used as an indirect measure of feeding behavior for these experiments. A concentration of 15 p.p.m. of NRP in the larval medium was the highest concentration used that did not interfere with larval mortality following exposure to the insecticidal proteins. Additional experiments demonstrated that components of the experimental matrix did not interfere with NRP absorbance. The final experiment revealed that the consumption of NRP and insecticidal proteins by larvae was influenced by clay and cellulose in the larval medium.     

湖北省神农架蚋属一新种(双翅目,蚋科)

记述采自神农架自然保护区蚋科昆虫1新种.根据雌虫盾片无斑纹,爪简单,雄虫生殖肢端节具基突,生殖腹板无齿,蛹具3对呼吸丝等特征,新种隶属于蚋属蚋亚属Simulium(Simulium)的块根蚋组tuberosum-group.新种依其雄虫生殖腹板呈亚箭形的特殊性状,雌虫食窦弓具中突及蛹头胸毛多分支呈刷状等综合特征,可与蚋属已知种包括该组的近缘种相区别.正模♀,副模,1♀,1♂,9蛹,4幼虫,均采自神农架山溪急流的石块上.模式标本存放于贵阳医学院生物学教研室.     

四川省蚋属纺蚋亚属一新种记述(双翅目,蚋科)

泸定纺蚋,新种Simulium(Nevermannia)ludingense sp.nov.(Figs.1-17)根据雄虫尾器和蛹呼吸丝特征,新种应隶属于纺蚋亚属的宽足蚋组uernum-group.新种的主要特征是幼虫后腹节具附骨,这一特征在该组见于报告者仅有5种,即产自我国台湾的S.(N.)yushangense、湖南的S.(N.)zhangjiajiense和贵州的S.(N.)qinshuiense、菲律宾的S.(N.)aberrans以及马来西亚的S.(N.)caudisclerum.但新种蛹茧无前背突可与S.(N.)yushangense、S.(N.)qingshuiense、S.(N.)zhangjiajiense和S.(N.)caudisclerum相区别;其雄性生殖腹板呈半圆形以及幼虫上颚缘齿无附齿列可与S.(N.)caudisclerum相区别.正模♀,副模7♀♀,5♂♂,12蛹,5幼虫,2003-09-19,采自泸定县药王庙小溪水草.模式标本存放于贵阳医学院生物学教研室.     

贵州蚋属一新种记述(双翅目：蚋科)

记述采自贵州省雷公山的蚋属指名亚属Simulium(Simulium)一新种。根据其雌性生殖叉突的形态特征命名为钩突纳S.(S.)uncum sp.nov.,描述其形态特征并进行了分类讨论。模式标本存放于贵阳医学院生物学教研室。