Gordius albopunctatus, Muller, 1927

Schmidt-Rhaesa, Andreas & Kristensen, Preben, 2006, Horsehair worms (Nematomorpha) from the Baltic island Bornholm (Denmark), with notes on the biology of Gordius albopunctatus, Journal of Natural History 40 (9 - 10), pp. 495-502 : 499

Relation of Gordius albopunctatus to Potamophylax cingulatus

From the 285 larvae of Potamophylax cingulatus kept in aquaria, a total of 24 specimens of Gordius albopunctatus emerged. This is a parasitation rate of 8.4%, 17 specimens were males, six females, and one specimen remained unsexed. Dissections of 125 larvae, praepupae, and pupae of P. cingulatus resulted in six specimens which were not further determined but left in situ ( Figure 4 ). Five of the specimens were white in colour and one was medium brown, indicating an advanced developmental stage. The parasitation rate for this experiment was 4.6%.

Figures

Figure 4. Six dissected larvae and praepupae of Pomatophylax cingulatus (Trichoptera), parasitized by Gordius albopunctatus (note that worms are white in colour except for the one to the right which is light brown).