The Predatory Behavior of Dileptus anser*

Abstract

SYNOPSIS. A motion picture study of the feeding behavior of Dileptus anser upon Colpidium campylum revealed that feeding begins shortly before dawn (about 4:30 a.m. Pacific DST in July and August) and continues until bright daylight, terminating sharply between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. Little or no feeding occurs at any other time during a 24 hr cycle. A “biological clock” phenomenon is suggested, but was not further investigated. Attack by Dileptus often results in “escape” behavior by Colpidium. When struck (usually antero‐dorsally), the latter rotates, usually adhering to the microscope slide at the end which was struck, constricting the undamaged part of the body, pulling free, swimming off and regenerating if not again struck by Dileptus. After successive attacks and feeding, the proboscis of Dileptus becomes adhesive and sticks to the microscope slide near its tip. Dileptus jerks the proboscis free, sacrificing the attached portion. Several successive such truncations may occur as Dileptus feeds, so that at the end of a feeding period only a stub of the proboscis may remain. The entire proboscis is regenerated before the next feeding period begins. Ingestion of Colpidium by Dileptus appears to involve 2‐way streaming of cytoplasm which results in a retreat of cytoplasm from the region of the cytostome toward the rear, forming an ingestion cavity. The cytostome simultaneously opens widely to accommodate passage of prey, even before the prey reaches the cytostome, and is often opened wider than the diameter of the prey. Ingestion is assumed to involve protoplasmic movements other than those only of the fibrillar organelles in the region of the cytostome.