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The natural diet of the Notonectidae: field trials using electrophoresis
Author(s) -
GILLER P. S.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
ecological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.865
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2311
pISSN - 0307-6946
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2311.1986.tb00291.x
Subject(s) - biology , heteroptera , instar , predation , hemiptera , zoology , ecology , larva
.1 Field trials were conducted on populations of two sympatic species of the waterbug Notonecta (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), to examine their natural diet using the electrophoretic method of gut contents analysis. 2 Fingerprint esterase bands were identified from thirty‐three potential aquatic prey types; gut contents of different instars of both species of Notonecta from the field were analysed. 3 The level of prey identification possible ranged from 73% in fifth instar N.glauca L. to 100% in third instar N.viridis Delcourt. 4 Type A errors, where no prey remains were detected from a full gut, were found in only 3% of the specimens analysed. 5 Data on gut states, the number of prey types per gut and details of aquatic prey found in the diet of different instars of field‐collected Notonecta are presented. 6 These results are compared with previous data on notonectid diets, and the relative merits of different methods of diet analysis are discussed.