Abstract
MANY insects are known to make use of surface energy effects to allow them to respire at the surface of the water. The outer walls of the respiratory trumpets of mosquito pupae are hydrophil. while the inner lining is hydrophuge1. When the pupae are at the surface the surface film is distorted upwards around the spiracles and the pupae are in a stable position2. The positive buoyancy of the pupae is counteracted by the attraction between the water molecules and the outer walls of the spiracles.
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References
Christophers, S. R., Aedes aegypti (L.) (Cambridge University Press, 1960).
Manzelli, M. A., Proc. N. J. Mosq. Ext. Assoc., 28, (1941).
Nachtigall, W., in The Physiology of Insects (edit. by Rockstein, M.) (Academic Press, New York, 1965).
Reid, J. A., Proc. Roy. Entomol. Soc., A, 38, 32 (1963).
Houlihan, D. F., thesis, Univ. Bristol (1969).
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HOULIHAN, D. How Mosquito Pupae escape from the Surface. Nature 229, 489–490 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/229489a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/229489a0
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