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Effects of Food Quality on Growth of a Stream Detritivore, Paratendipes Albimanus (Meigen) (Diptera: Chironomidae)
Author(s) -
Ward G. Milton,
Cummins Kenneth W.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1936468
Subject(s) - detritus , detritivore , chironomidae , biology , population , ecology , larva , zoology , invertebrate , demography , sociology
Laboratory—determined larval growth rates of the detritivore (collector—gatherer) Paratendipes albimanus (Chironomidae) responded proportionally to the microbial densities of 4 food sources. Substrates with higher microbial activities and biomasses produced greater growth rates in the order: pignut hickory (Carya glabra) leaves > white oak (Quercus alba) > insect feces > natural stream detritus. Laboratory growth rates of P. albimanus were linearly related to quantitative estimates of food quality based on substrate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and respiration rates but were not statistically related to total N or C. Although P. albimanus is univoltine in Augusta Creek, Michigan, an experimental laboratory population of first—instar larvae completed a 2nd generation during the summer when fed detritus generated from hickory leaves. A second experimental population failed to develop past the first instar when fed natural detritus. The natural growth pattern of P. albimanus involves the interaction of temperature and food quality.