Stomach content analysis of potential predators of Simuliidae (Diptera: Nematocera) in two lowland forest streams, Central Amazonia, Brazil

Alencar, Yamile B; Hamada, Neusa; Magni-Darwich, Sandra

doi:10.1590/s0301-80591999000200017

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Malmqvist & Sjöström (1984) and Kuralová & Olejníček (1985) also considered stoneflies and caddis flies to be the principal predators of simuliid populations. Alencar et al . (1999) and Hamada (1998) ranked Odonata and ants, respectively, as very active antagonists of simuliid populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dipteran predators of Simuliid blackflies: a worldwide review

Werner¹,

Pont²

2003

Medical Vet Entomology

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Abstract. Haematophagous female blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) are serious biting pests and obligate vectors of vertebrate pathogens, namely filarial Dirofilaria, Mansonella, Onchocerca and protozoal Leucocytozoon. Immature stages of Simuliidae inhabit lotic waterways, the sessile larvae filter-feeding and often forming a large proportion of the benthic biomass, usually aggregated in welloxygenated sections of streams, rivers, waterfalls and spillways. Simuliid control practices depend on larvicidal chemicals, biological products (bacteria, nematodes) and environmental modification. The potential use of predators for biological control of Simuliidae has not been exploited. Predators of Simuliidae include examples of at least 12 families of Diptera and other predaceous arthropods (Crustacea and insects: Coleoptera, Odonata, Plecoptera, Trichoptera), invertebrates (notably Turbellaria), as well as browsing fish. Diptera impacting upon simuliid populations comprise mainly Chironomidae, Empididae and Muscidae, although several other families (Asilidae, Dolichopodidae, Phoridae, Drosophilidae, Scathophagidae) play a significant role as predators. Details of predator and prey species and life stages are presented, by zoogeographical region, including the prevalence of cannibalism among Simuliidae.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dipteran predators of Simuliid blackflies: a worldwide review

Werner¹,

Pont²

2003

Medical Vet Entomology

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“…Predation can have a strong influence on community structure, affecting reproduction, feeding, adaptation to abiotic factors and defense, which are the four basic requirements of animals for survival and perpetuation (Peckarsky, 1984). In Brazil, few works have studied predators of black flies, and much of the existing information has been published in abstracts of papers presented at meetings or theses that are not widely circulated (Alencar et al, 1999).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Biotic factors such as predation (Alencar et al, 1999) and competition (Harding and Colbo, 1981;Hemphill, 1988), although important drivers of the black fly community structure, are rarely investigated in the literature. Thus, the present study held as objective to test the hypothesis that the patterns of co-occurrence of black fly larvae and its potential predators listed in the literature is not random and that there is a correlation between Simuliidae larvae abundances and the abundance of its potential predators.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Perlidae nymphs are known in the literature to be generalist predators, feeding on several macroinvertebrate groups such as Simuliidae, Chironomidae, Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera (Siegfried and Knight, 1976;Alencar et al, 1999), probably due to their great energy demands during their rapid growth immature stages (Cummins and Klug, 1979). However, Gamboa et al (2009) observed that black fly larvae accounted for aproximately 20% of the diet of four Anacroneuria (Plecoptera: Perlidae) in the Andes, so Simuliidae actually may represent a small fraction of its feeding, so the absence of significant correlations in this study can be a reflection of this.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Trichopterans are usually regarded in literature as the main invertebrate predators of black fly larve, specially the families Hydropsychidae, Limnophilidae and Ryacophilidae (Kuralova and Olejnicek, 1985;Schorscher, 1991;Alencar, et al, 1999), so the correlation between Hydropsychidae and Simuliidae abundances is consistent with the literature, although the weight of its effects as predators on black fly larvae, inferring from the correlations and canonical loadings observed, was coherent to what would be expected in Vargem Grande but unexpectedly low in Pau da Fome. Libellulidae has been shown to be a black fly larvae predator in the literature (Gorayeb and Pinger, 1978;Crosskey, 1990), however its effect on black fly larvae populations has not been approached on previous studies, with the exception of Santos-Junior et al(2006), in which the authors verified a small presence of black fly larvae in the stomach content of these organisms which contrasts to the high correlations observed in the present study, suggesting that different drivers other than predation may be influencing this pattern.…”

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Preliminary observations on the patterns of co-occurrence of Black fly (Diptera: Simuliidae) larvae and some of their potential macroinvertebrate predators

Figueiró

Santos

Docile

et al. 2020

Rev. Bras. entomol.

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Biotic factors such as predation, although important drivers of the black fly community, are rarely investigated in the literature. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that the patterns of co-occurrence of black fly larvae and its potential predators is not random and that there is a correlation between its frequencies and Simuliidae larvae abundances. Larvae were sampled from two localities in the Pedra Branca State Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during the dry season in june 2018. We collected Simulium pertinax Kollar, 1832, Simulium subpallidum Lutz, 1910, Simulium (Inaequalium) sp., Simulium (Psaroniocompsa) sp. and Simulium (Trichodagmia) sp. The predators families present were Perlidae, Hydropsychidae, Leptoceridae, Libellulidae and Chironomidae. The null models showed that species co-occurred significantly more than expected by chance. The canonical correlation analyses for the Vargem Grande and Pau da Fome areas area showed a significant relationship between black fly abundances and predator abundances. In Vargem Grande the abundance of Chironomidae showed a highly significant positive correlation to S. (Psaroniocompsa) sp., while Hydropsychidae was significantly correlated to Simulium sp. On the other hand, in Pau da Fome Libellulidae was significantly correlated to S. (Psaroniocompsa) sp. and Simulium sp. and Chironomidae correlated significantly to Simulium sp. The result is consistent with what would be expected of organisms that exercise mutual population regulation, although other factors than biotic interactions may be causing these patterns. However the lack of mechanistic evidences on the effect of biotic interactions on black fly populations pose a challenge on the understanding of these patterns.

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