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Abstract
Blackfly larvae (Diptera: Simuliidae) live in running fresh waters and capture particles of a wide range of sizes. Fluorescent colloids (of diameter 0.088 μm) were added for 10 minutes to the water in a river upstream from larvae and this supplemented their feeding on natural particulate and dissolved matter. After a further 10 minutes of feeding on natural matter only, trailing vegetation to which larvae were attached was collected into a vial of 70% methyl alcohol. Observation of larvae using an epifluorescence microscope showed that large numbers of fluorescent colloids had been ingested as there were some areas of vivid fluorescence. This is a first record of blackfly larvae feeding on colloidal particles in a natural river. Natural colloids that are not digested will be egested within faecal pellets produced in large numbers by larvae.
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