Abstract
The large, hæmoglobin-bearing larvæ of the genus Chironomus, commonly known as bloodworms, are the most abundant and widespread members of the bottom mud communities in ponds and lakes, but owing to the obscurity of the medium in which they live little is known about their behaviour. The larvae live in U-shaped tubes through which an intermittent irrigation current is maintained1, and are stated to feed on the organic mud around them, eating part of the walls of their burrows or feeding off the surface of the mud2. Alsterberg3, however, considered them to be largely plankton feeders, eating algae brought in by the irrigation current and trapped by the tube walls or the spines of the anterior proleg. But details of their feeding mechanism or respiratory behaviour are unknown. Accordingly, I have watched the behaviour of larvæ of Chironomus plumosus L. under various conditions.
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References
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Leathers, A. L., Bull. U.S. Bur. Fish, 38, 1 (1922).
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WALSHE, B. Feeding Mechanisms of Chironomus Larvæ. Nature 160, 474 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/160474a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/160474a0
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