Surplus Killing by Predatory Larvae of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Corethrella appendiculata</Emphasis>: Prepupal Timing and Site-Specific Attack on Mosquito Prey |
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Authors: | L P Lounibos S Makhni B W Alto B Kesavaraju |
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Institution: | (1) Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, University of Florida, Vero Beach, FL 32962, USA;(2) Present address: 5051 N Highway A1A, Apt. PH1-1, Ft. Pierce, FL 34949, USA;(3) Present address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA;(4) Department of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790, USA |
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Abstract: | Surplus or ‘wasteful’ killing of uneaten prey has been documented in the fourth larval instar of various species of the mosquito
genus Toxorhynchites that occur in treeholes and other phytotelmata. Here we document surplus killing by the predatory midge Corethrella appendiculata, which in Florida cohabits treeholes and artificial containers with larvae of Toxorhynchites rutilus. Provided with a surfeit of larval mosquito prey, surplus killing was observed only in the fourth instar of C. appendiculata, peaking in intensity in the final 24 h prior to pupation, as observed for Toxorhynchites spp. Attack sites identified from videotaped encounters with mosquito prey were divided among head, thorax, abdomen, and
siphon. Consumed mosquito larvae (n = 70) were attacked primarily on the head (46%) or siphon (34%), but surplus-killed prey (n = 30) were attacked predominantly on the thorax (83%). Despite its independent evolution among different insect species in
aquatic container habitats, the functional significance of prepupal surplus killing remains unclear. |
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Keywords: | Competition midge mosquito predation prepupae |
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