Rw. Merritt et al., FEEDING-BEHAVIOR OF AQUATIC INSECTS - CASE-STUDIES ON BLACK FLY AND MOSQUITO LARVAE, Invertebrate biology., 115(3), 1996, pp. 206-217
The study of feeding behavior in aquatic insects requires integrating
a number of techniques. Light and scanning electron microscopy give th
ree-dimensional images of the feeding apparatus needed to understand t
heir structure, while cinematography allows frame-by-frame analysis of
movements of the food collecting organs necessary to explain their fu
nction. Videography is used in two ways: to provide a record of feedin
g over time and, with microscopy, to show patterns of flow around the
insects. This facilitates the construction of catalogs of feeding beha
viors and aids in the interpretation of relationships between function
al morphology and hydrodynamics. Experiments are then conducted to det
ermine which foods are ingested from those available in the environmen
t. We use examples of investigations on black fly larvae and mosquito
larvae to illustrate this integrated approach to the study of feeding
in suspension-feeding aquatic insects.