Abstract
Orientation mechanism of the glacier midge (Chironomidae;Diamesa sp.) was studied in a Himalayan glacier (Yala glacier) in Nepal. This insect, a newly found cold tolerant chironomid characterized by reduced wings and antennae, is unable to fly, and is found on the surface of the glacier and in small cavities beneath it. The larvae grow in the melt-water drainage channels under the ice and feed on blue-green algae and bacteria growing there. The insect is the first to be found which spends its entire life cycle in the snow and ice of a glacier: the coldest insect habitat ever recorded. Female adults have a very long life span and migrate toward the upper part of the glacier by walking. They walk straight by means of a sun-compass; the direction of which could be altered by changing the apparent position of the sun with a hand mirror. Field data strongly suggested that the direction of their walk was corrected by some information on the slope direction. They seemed to assess the slope direction during walking straight by means of sun-compass. The migration is thought to be a kind of upstream migration well known in stream insects or that for over wintering.
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Kohshima, S. Migration of the Himalayan wingless glacier midge (Diamesa sp.): Slope direction assessment by sun-compassed straight walk. J. Ethol. 3, 93–104 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02350299
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02350299