Abstract
THE immature stages of more than 150 species of insects appear to be restricted to the intertidal zone. Most of these are flies, and most of the flies belong to the families Chironomidae, Tipulidae, Dolichopodidae and Canaceidae. A fair number of beetles, a few bugs, and at least one caddis-fly also breed between tide marks. The immature stages of most of these insects absorb oxygen from the water directly through their cuticle. However, the respiratory horns of the pupae of apparently all Tipulidae, the species of Aphrosylus (Dolichopodidae), and Canace nasica Haliday (Canaceidae) are modified to form plastron-bearing spiracular gills. About thirty-five species of Canaceidae are known. All appear to be marine except two species of Protocanace that have invaded freshwater streams, one in the Hawaiian Islands and the other in Java. On general grounds I suspect that many of the pupae of the Canaceidae will be found to have plastron-bearing gills.
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References
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HINTON, H. Plastron Respiration in Marine Insects. Nature 209, 220–221 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/209220a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/209220a0
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