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POTENTIAL PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY WITHIN SIMULIUM NIGRIMANUM MACQUART, 1838 (DIPTERA: SIMULIIDAE) LARVAE
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Fundação Centro Universitário Estadual da Zona Oeste (UEZO). Unidade de Biologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil / Centro Universitário de Volta Redonda (UniFOA). Volta Redonda, RJ. Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Simulídeos e Oncocercose. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Museu Nacional. Departamento de Entomologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Brasil.
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Departamento de Ecologia. Laboratório de Ecologia de Insetos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Brasil.
undação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Simulídeos e Oncocercose. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Simulídeos e Oncocercose. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Museu Nacional. Departamento de Entomologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Brasil.
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Departamento de Ecologia. Laboratório de Ecologia de Insetos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Brasil.
undação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Simulídeos e Oncocercose. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Abstract
Black fly larvae (Diptera: Simuliidae) are suspension filter-feeders which strongly depend on water
velocity for proper feeding. Black fly species feature different microhabitat preferences. Studies of
Holarctic black fly larvae revealed their phenotypic plasticity in response to water current velocity
variation, but such studies have been rarely undertaken with Neotropical black flies. The current work
presents results on the phenotypic plasticity of the black fly species Simulium nigrimanum Macquart.
Twelve last instar larvae, sampled from the Brazilian Cerrado, were photographed under a stereoscopic
microscope and measured using the CMEIAS Image tool software. Linear regressions with water
velocity as the independent variable were performed, indicating that while body size and anal disk
diameter correlated positively with water velocity, labral fan length correlated negatively. The observed
relationships between water velocity and labral fan length and anal disk diameter were consistent with
the literature, while the pattern of body size variation partially corroborated previous studies. The
present work results suggest that potential phenotypic plasticity can be observed in black fly larvae
within one population distributed in different microhabitats of the same stream section, as opposed to
previous reports implying that such variation is only found among population from different streams.
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