Abstract
Respiration rate (R) and electron transport system (ETS) activity were measured in larvae of four chironomid species, Chironomus thummi (Kieffer), Paratanytarsus austriacus (Kieffer), Procladius (Holotanypus) spp., and Zavrelimyia barbatipes (Kieffer) from three mountain lakes. ETS activity and res piration rate, measured at a standard temperature of 20 °C, differed significantly between species (ANOVA: p<0.001). ETS activity ranged from 10.3 µL 02 mg-1 DW h-1 for Zavrelimyia to 27.6 µL 02 mg1DW h-1 for Paratanytarsus. The lowest respiration rate was observed for Procladius (4.0 µL 02 mg·1DW h-1) and the high est for Paratanytarsus (12.4 µL 02 mg·1DW h-1). ETS activity and respiration rate of chironomids decreased with increasing size of the animals (p<0.001); b values for ETS activity and respiration rate were 0.82 and 0.66, respectively. Respiration rate correlated significantly with ETS activity for all four species investigated. This study revealed that the ETS/R ratio differed between species (ANOVA: p<0.001). A low ratio (0.98) was determined for Zavrelimyia, while Procladius showed the highest value (3.88). The differences can be explained by body size, and the eco logical preference and tolerance of each chironomid species.
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