Environmental Optics Laboratory, Department of Biological Physics, Physical Institute, Eötvös University, H-1117 Budapest, Pázmány sétány 1, Hungary.
Physiol Behav. 2011 Oct 24;104(5):1010-5. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.06.022. Epub 2011 Jul 2.
Non-biting midges (Chironomidae, Diptera) are widely distributed aquatic insects. The short-living chironomid adults swarm in large numbers above water surfaces, and are sometimes considered a nuisance. They are vectors of certain bacteria, and have a key-role in benthic ecosystems. Optical cues, involving reflection-polarization from water, were found to be important in the habitat selection by three Mediterranean freshwater chironomid species. In this work we report on our multiple-choice experiments performed in the field with several other European freshwater chironomid species. We show that the investigated non-biting midges are positively polarotactic and like many other aquatic insects their females are attracted to horizontally polarized light. Our finding is important in the visual ecology of chironomids and useful in the design of traps for these insects.
无刺摇蚊（摇蚊科，双翅目）是广泛分布的水生昆虫。生命周期短的摇蚊成虫大量聚集在水面上方，有时被认为是一种滋扰。它们是某些细菌的载体，在底栖生态系统中起着关键作用。光学线索，包括来自水的反射偏振，被发现对三种地中海淡水摇蚊物种的栖息地选择很重要。在这项工作中，我们报告了在野外用其他几种欧洲淡水摇蚊物种进行的多项选择实验。我们表明，所研究的无刺摇蚊具有正趋光性，并且像许多其他水生昆虫一样，它们的雌性被水平偏振光吸引。我们的发现对摇蚊的视觉生态学很重要，并且对这些昆虫的诱捕器设计很有用。
