Abstract
Larvae of the Taxon Austrosimulium bancrofti (Taylor) were collected from perspex strips placed in rapids of the Brisbane River during January (summer) and October (spring). Separation of larvae according to the mixture approach to clustering demonstrated that: a) October cluster I larvae were larger and underwent an additional cluster to those collected in January, b) there was an additional cluster of larvae in each month, which correlated with the percentage of A. bancrofti Ipswich B that were identified cytologically, and c) greater numbers of later cluster larvae were collected from the strips than early clusters.
Multivariate analysis demonstrated that distance from the lip of the rapids, strip texture and water velocity had a significant effect on the number of larvae colonizing perspex strips. Numbers increased with: a) decreasing distance from the lip of the rapids, b) increasing surface area of roughened strips and c) water velocity in the range 1.00 < X ≤1.38ms−1. The influence of adult female oviposition behaviour, larval behaviour, sampling time and technique are discussed in relation to the parameters that influenced the colonization of artificial substrates.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adler, P. H., R. W. Light & K. C. Kim, 1983. The aquatic drift patterns of black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae). Hydrobiologia 107: 183–191.
Ballard, J. W. O. & D. A. Bedo, in press. Population cytogenetics of Austrosimulium bancrofti (Taylor) (Diptera: Simuliidae) in eastern Australi. Genome.
Boobar, L. R. & J. Granett, 1978. Evaluation of polyethylene samplers for black fly larvae (Diptera: Simuliidae), with particular reference to Maine species. Can. J. Zool. 56: 2245–2248.
Colbo, M. H., 1974. Studies on the biology of the Simuliidae in north eastern Australia with special reference to their potential as vectors of disease. PhD thesis, University of Queensland, Brisbane. pp. 379.
Colbo, M. H. & D. E. Moorhouse, 1979. The ecology of pre-imaginal Simuliidae (Diptera) in south-east Queensland, Australia. Hydrobiologia 63: 63–79.
Colbo, M. H. & G. N. Porter, 1979. Effects of the food supply on the life history of Simuliidae (Diptera). Can. J. Zool. 57: 301–306.
Das, S. C., D. K. Sarkar, M. Bhuyan & K. M. Rao, 1989. Substrate preference of simuliid larvae in the field in India. J. Am. Mosq. Cont. Ass. 5: 96–97.
de Moor F. C., 1982. Determination of the number of instars and size variation in the larvae and pupae of Simulium chutteri Lewis 1965 (Diptera: Simuliidae) and some possible bionomical implications. Can. J. Zool. 60: 1374–1382.
de Moor, F. C., F. M. Chutter & I. J. de Moor, 1986. Drift behaviour and microhabitat selection in the preimaginal stages of Simulium chutteri (Diptera Simuliidae). Hydrobiologia 133: 143–154.
Disney, R. H. L., 1972. Observations on sampling preimaginal populations of blackflies (Dipt., Simuliidae) in West Cameroo. Bull. Ent. Res. 61: 485–503.
Gersabeck, E. F. Jr. & R. W. Merritt, 1979. The effect of physical factors on the colonization and relocation behaviour of immature black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae). Envir. Ent. 8: 34–39.
Imhof, J. E. & S. M. Smith, 1979. Oviposition behaviour, egg-masses and hatching response of the eggs of five Nearctic species of Simulium (Diptera: Simuliidae). Bull. Ent. Res. 69: 405–425.
Johnson, A. F. & D. H. Pengelly, 1966. A cone trap for immature blackflies (Diptera: Simullidae). Proc. ent. Soc. Ont. 96: 120.
Lewis, D. J. & G. F. Bennett, 1974. An artificial substate for quantitative comparison of densities of larval simuliid (Diptera) populations. Ca. J. Zoo. 52: 773–775.
Lewis, D. J. & G. F. Bennett, 1975. The blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) of insular Newfoundland. III. Factors affecting the distribution and migration of larval simuliids in small streams on the Avalon Peninsula. Can. J. Zool. 53: 114–123.
Mackerras, M. J. & I. M. Mackerras, 1948. Simuliidae (Diptera) from Queensland. Aust. J. Sci. Res. (B) 1: 231–270.
McLachlan, G. J. & K. E. Basford, 1988. Mixture models: Inference and applications to clustering. Marcel Dekker, New York. pp. 253.
Morin, A., P. Harper & R. H. Peters, 1986. Microhabitat — preference curves of blackfly larvae (Diptera: Simuliidae): a comparison of three estimation methods. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 43: 1235–1241.
Nelder, J. A. & R. W. M. Wedderburn, 1972. Generalised linear models. J. R. Stat. Soc. 135: 370–384.
Pegel, M. & W. Rühm, 1976. Versuche zur Besiedlung künstlicher Sustrate durch präimaginale Stadien von Simuliiden unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Boophthora erythrocephala de Geer (Simuliidae, Dipt.). Z. Agnew. Ent. 82: 65–71.
Phillipson, J., 1956. A study of factors determining the distribution of the larvae of the blackfly, Simulium ornatum Mg. Bull. Ent. Res. 47: 227–238.
Phillipson, J., 1958. The effect of current speed on the distribution of the larvae of the blackflies, Simulium variegatum (Mg.) and Simulium monticola Fried. (Diptera). Bull. Ent. Res. 48: 811–819.
Post, R. J., 1983. The annual cycle of Simulium erythrocephalum (Diptera: Simuliidae) at a site in Norfold. Feshwat. Biol. 13: 379–388.
Roberts, D. M., 193. The relative abundance of pupae of three of strings. Ent. Exp. Appl. 33: 125–128.
Roberts, D. M., 1986. Some factors affecting substrate preference by black-fly pupae (Diptera: Simuliidae). Insect. Sci. Applic. 7: 107–109.
Ross, D. H. & R. W. Merritt, 198. The larval instars and populations dynamics of five species of black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) and their response to selected environmental factors. Can. J. Zool. 56: 1633–1642.
Tarshis, I. B., 1966. Use of fabrics in streams to collect black fly larvae. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 61: 960–961.
Walsh, D. J., D. Yeboah & M. H. Colbo, 1981. A spherical sampling device for black fly larvae. Mosq. News 41: 18–21.
Williams, T. R. & L. Obeng, 1962. A comparison of two methods of estimating changes in Simulium populations, with a description of a new method. Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 56; 350–361.
Wolfe, L. S. & D. G. Peterson, 1958. A new method to estimate levels of infestations of black-fly larvae (Diptera: Simuliidae). Can. J. Zool. 36: 863–867.
Wotton, R. S., 1984. The relationship between food particle size and larval size in Simulium noelleri friedrichs. Freshwat. Biol. 14: 547–550.
Wotton, R. S., 1985. The reaction of larvae of Simulium noelleri (Diptera) to different current velocities. Hydrobiologia 123: 215–218.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ballard, J.W.O., Zalucki, M.P. & Basford, K.E. Colonization of perspex strips by larvae of Austrosimulium bancrofti (Taylor) near Ipswich, Queensland. Hydrobiologia 218, 255–263 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00038839
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00038839