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ROOSTING BEHAVIOUR BY FLETCHEROMYIA FLETCHERI (DIPTERA: SARCOPHAGIDAE) IN SARRACENIA PURPUREA (SARRACENIACEA)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Margaret A. Krawchuk  and
Philip D. Taylor
Margaret A. Krawchuk*
Affiliation:
Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Ecology Research Network, Department of Biology, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada B0P 1X0
Philip D. Taylor
Affiliation:
Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Ecology Research Network, Department of Biology, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada B0P 1X0
*
1Author to whom all correspondence should he addressed (E-mail: [email protected]).
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Extract

The flute-shaped leaves of the pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea L. are a fluidfilled microhabitat rich in invertebrate diversity (Bradshaw 1983; Heard 1994; Hardwick and Giberson 1996; Harvey and Miller 1996; Miller et al. 1994). They are the obligate larval habitat for Fletcherimyia fletcheri (Aldrich) (Forsyth and Robertson 1975). Most literature reports of F. fletcheri present information only on larval life history and population dynamics (Fish and Hall 1978; Hardwick and Giberson 1996). Forsyth and Robertson (1975) state anecdotally that they observed adults feeding on flowers and other nectar sources within their study area. We believe that our observations represent the first report of adult F. fletcheri roosting within the flower heads of the pitcher plant.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 131 , Issue 6 , December 1999 , pp. 829 - 830
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1999

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References

Bradshaw, W.E. 1983. Interaction between the mosquito Wyeomyia smithii, the midge Metriocnemus knabi, and their carnivorous host Sarracenia purpurea, pp. 161–89 in Frank, J.H., Lounibos, L.P. (Eds.), Phytotelmata: terrestrial plants as hosts of aquatic insect communities. Medford: PlexusGoogle Scholar
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