Linley J R
Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, University of Florida, Vero Beach 32962.
J Med Entomol. 1995 Jan;32(1):53-65. doi: 10.1093/jmedent/32.1.53.
Behavior of Toxorhynchites amboinensis (Doleschall) and Toxorhynchites brevipalpis (Theobald) larvae (starved 48 h) as they approach and capture surface prey is described quantitatively from videotaped records. Of 106 T. amboinensis and 82 T. brevipalpis larvae observed, 84.9 and 97.6%, respectively, responded to the presence of surface prey within 2 min (most < 20 s). Once they detected prey, larvae executed initial backward swims if prey was rearwardly positioned, then approached it in a series of undulatory forward swims with progressive adjustments of body angle so that the final movements were directly toward the prey. Swims consisted of an active phase, during which propulsive bodily flexions were made and a passive one of continued inertial drift after active motion had ceased. Quantitative changes in the nature of the swims in terms of interval separating active phases and also distances, times, and speeds throughout the approach sequence were analyzed from the video tapes. T. brevipalpis responded to the presence of prey more rapidly, captured prey in less time, and approached prey more rapidly, with shorter rest periods between active swim phases than T. amboinensis. The behavior indicated that Toxorhynchites larvae are able to assess both the angle to surface prey and its distance and that they interpolate this information to optimize the approach path. The degree of refinement in this behavior indicates that it is well adapted to take advantage of the important surface food source in nature. In this phase of their feeding, Toxorhynchites larvae are active hunters and are not entirely the passive ambush predators they have seemed to be from many studies that have used other mosquito larvae as (subsurface) prey.
根据录像记录，对饥饿48小时的amboinensis巨蚊（Doleschall）和brevipalpis巨蚊（Theobald）幼虫接近并捕获水面猎物时的行为进行了定量描述。在观察的106只amboinensis巨蚊幼虫和82只brevipalpis巨蚊幼虫中，分别有84.9%和97.6%在2分钟内对水面猎物的出现做出反应（大多数在20秒内）。一旦检测到猎物，如果猎物位于后方，幼虫会先向后游动，然后通过一系列波动的向前游动接近猎物，并逐步调整身体角度，使最终动作直接朝向猎物。游动由一个主动阶段和一个被动阶段组成，主动阶段进行推进性的身体弯曲，主动运动停止后是持续的惯性漂移的被动阶段。从录像带中分析了游动性质的定量变化，包括主动阶段之间的间隔时间，以及整个接近过程中的距离、时间和速度。brevipalpis巨蚊对猎物出现的反应更快，捕获猎物的时间更短，接近猎物的速度更快，主动游动阶段之间的休息时间比amboinensis巨蚊更短。这种行为表明，巨蚊幼虫能够评估与水面猎物的角度及其距离，并对这些信息进行内插以优化接近路径。这种行为的精细程度表明，它非常适合利用自然界中重要的水面食物来源。在它们进食的这个阶段，巨蚊幼虫是活跃的猎手，并不完全像许多以其他蚊子幼虫作为（水下）猎物的研究所显示的那样是被动的伏击捕食者。
