Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-n9wrp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T14:29:45.715Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE INTERTIDAL CHIRONOMIDAE (DIPTERA) OF BRITISH COLUMBIA: II. LIFE HISTORY AND POPULATION DYNAMICS1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Richard L. Morley  and
Richard A. Ring
Richard L. Morley
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia
Richard A. Ring
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Intertidal Chironomidae (Diptera) are represented on the coast of British Columbia by Paraclunio alaskensis Coquillett and Saunderia pacificus (Saunders), S. marinus (Saunders), and S. clavicornis (Saunders). These species inhabit a variety of rocky shore types, being found on exposed as well as protected shores, but are not present on exclusively sandy shores. Their range extends at least to the Queen Charlotte Islands, the most northerly area collected during this study. S. clavicornis is the most ubiquitous of the four species while S. pacificus is the rarest.Within their habitat larval distribution is contagious and is well described by the negative binomial distribution. It is probable that their clumped distribution is due to environmental factors rather than active aggregation. Larval densities of 4316/ft2 were recorded for Saunderia spp. and 1613/ft2 for P. alaskensis. Larvae fed on green algae and diatoms and it was demonstrated that they can select certain groups of diatoms from the substrate.Adult emergence occurs throughout the year but is most intensive in the fall and least in the late spring and summer. Generally, larval population fluctuations follow adult emergence trends. It is hypothesized that larval population fluctuations are caused by a combination of overlapping multiple generations and differential larval growth rates at fluctuating temperatures, coupled with varying lethal environmental factors at different times of the year. Developmental times at 10 °C from egg-laying to adult emergence was 110 days for S. clavicornis, 150 days for S. marinus, and 204 days for P. alaskensis.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 104 , Issue 7 , July 1972 , pp. 1099 - 1121
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1972

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, J. F. and Hitchcock, S. W.. 1968. The biology of Chironomus atrella in a tidal cove. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 61(6): 1597–1603.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Annan, M. E. 1958. Notes on the food of the young of three species of Pacific salmon in the sea. Can. Fish Culturalist 23: 1–3.Google Scholar
Arbous, A. G. and Kerrich, J. E.. 1951. Accident statistics and the concept of accident proneness. Biometrics 7: 340–432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Armitage, P. O. 1968. Some notes on the food of the chironomid larvae of a shallow woodland land in south Finland. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 5: 613.Google Scholar
Beck, W. M. and Beck, E. C.. 1968. The concept of genus in the Family Chironomidae. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 5: 14–16.Google Scholar
Bliss, C. I. and Fisher, R. A.. 1953. Fitting the negative binomial distribution to biological data “and” A note on the efficient fitting of the negative binomial. Biometrics 9: 176–200.Google Scholar
Brundin, L. 1956. Zur systematik der Orthocladiinae (Dipt., Chironomidae). Rep. Inst. Freshw. Res. Drottningholm 37: 1–185.Google Scholar
Brundin, L. 1966. Transarctic relationships and their significance, as evidenced by chironomid midges. With a monograph of the subfamilies Podonominae and Aphroteeninae and the austral Heptagyiae. K. svenska Vetensk-Akad. Handl. Ser. 4, ll(1): 1–472.Google Scholar
Downes, J. A. 1969. The swarming and mating flight of Diptera. A. Rev. Ent. 14: 271–298.Google Scholar
Hamilton, A. L., Sæther, O. A., and Oliver, D. R.. 1969. A classification of the nearctic Chironomidae. Fish. Res, Bd Can. Tech. Rep. 124. 42 p.Google Scholar
Hashimoto, H. 1962. Ecological significance of the sexual dimorphism in marine chironomids. Sci. Rep. Tokyo Kyaiku Daigaku (B) (157): 229–252.Google Scholar
Hinton, H. E. 1968. Spiracular gills. In Adv. Insect Physiol. 5: 65–162.Google Scholar
Johannsen, O. A. 1937. Aquatic Diptera. III. Chironomidae: Subfamilies Tanypodinae, Diamesinae and Orthocladiinae. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y.102 p.Google Scholar
Kajak, Z. and Warda, J.. 1968. Feeding of benthic non-predatory Chironomidae in lakes. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 5: 57–64.Google Scholar
Li, J. C. R. 1964. Statistical inference. I. Edwards Brothers, Ann Arbor, Mich. 658 p.Google Scholar
Light, F. S., Smith, R. I., Pitelka, F. A., Abott, D. P., and Weesner, F. M.. 1961. Intertidal invertebrates of the central California coast. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles. 446 p.Google Scholar
Miller, R. B. 1941. A contribution to the ecology of the Chironomidae, Costello Lake, Algonquin Park, Ontario. Univ. Toronto Stud. Biol. Ser. 49, p. 1–63.Google Scholar
Morley, R. L., and Ring, R. A.. 1972. The intertidal Chironomidae (Diptera) of British Columbia. I. Keys to their life stages. Can. Ent. 104: 1093–1098.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mundie, J. H. 1957. The ecology of Chironomidae in storage reservoirs. Trans. Roy. ent. Soc. Lond. 109(5): 149–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olander, R. and Palmen, E.. 1968. Taxonomy, ecology and behaviour of the North Baltic Clunio marinus Haliday (Diptera Chironomidae). Ann. Zool. Fenn. 5: 97–110.Google Scholar
Oliver, D. R. 1971. Life history of the Chironomidae. A. Rev. Ent. 16: 211–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmen, E. 1962. Studies on the ecology and phenology of the chironomids (Diptera) of the northern Baltic (1). Ann. Ent. Fenn. 28: 137–168.Google Scholar
Palmen, E. and Lindeberg, B.. 1959. The marine midge, Clunio marinus Haliday (Diptera, Chironomidae) found in brackish water in the northern Baltic. Int. Revue ges Hydrobiol. Hydrogr. 44: 384–394.Google Scholar
Paterson, C. G. 1970. Water mites (Hydracarina) as predators of chironomid larvae (Insects: Diptera). Can. J. Zool. 48: 610–614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sæther, O. A. 1969. Some nearctic Podonominae, Diamesinae and Orthocladiinae (Diptera, Chironomidae). Fish. Res. Bd Can. Bull. 170, 154 p.Google Scholar
Saunders, L. G. 1928. Some marine insects of the Pacific Coast of Canada. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 21(4): 521–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sokal, R. R. and Rohlf, F. J.. 1969. Biometry, the principles and practice of statistics in biological research. Freeman, San Francisco. 776 p.Google Scholar
Southwood, T. R. E. 1966. Ecological methods with particular reference to the study of insect populations. Methuen, London. 391 p.Google Scholar
Stuart, Y. A. 1941. Chironomid larvae of the Millport shore pools. Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinb. 60: 475–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Townes, H. K. 1945. The nearctic species at Tendipedini (Diptera, Tendipedidae (-Chironomidae)). Am. Midl. Nat. 34: 1206.Google Scholar
Walshe, B. M. 1951. The feeding habits of certain chironomid larvae (subfamily Tendipedinae). Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 121: 63–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winer, B. J. 1962. Statistical principles in experimental design. McGraw-Hill, Toronto. 672 p.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wirth, W. 1949. A revision of the Clunioninae midges. Univ. Calif. Publs Ent. 8(4): 151–182.Google Scholar