Understanding aquatic insect oviposition to increase aquatic insect recruitment rates

Abstract

Aquatic insects play many critical ecological roles in their environments. Anthropogenic changes in these environments, particularly those already under stress, leave the insect community more prone to stochastic disturbances. Despite widespread efforts by conservationists, many projects fail to increase insect recruitment to pre-disturbance levels as much of the focus is centered on the larval stage. It is currently unknown how aquatic insects select sites for laying egg masses, a process known as selective oviposition. We aimed to understand the characteristics of emergent rocks favorable for insect-selective oviposition. We hypothesized that rock size would have the most significant impact on favorability and insect success rates. Data was collected in the East River in the Colorado Rockies, on the RMBL campus. These pairs of emergent rocks exhibit various qualities, including rock embedment, water flow rate, and rock size. We observe insect behavior using a time-lapse camera. Egg masses were counted before and after the trial. After reviewing the footage, we found that 1) insects are landing and submerging on embedded and unembedded rocks equally. 2) Insects are laying egg masses more on unembedded, but using a zero-inflated model, they are not laying egg masses equally across each treatment. I suggest that aquatic insects are unable to recognize embedded and unembedded rocks, and embedded rocks may act as an ecological trap.

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References (16)

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