Abstract
Female swarming behaviour has rarely been described in Culicoides. Previous records of female swarms have only been described for females swarming in mixed swarms together with males. Two new observations of Culicoides swarms in Sweden are described here: A mixed swarm with females of Culicoides obsoletus/gornostaevae and males of C. gornostaevae, and a purely female swarm of C. impunctatus. Swarming behaviour can facilitate predator confusion. Swarming behaviour is therefore an evolutionary advantage that can explain mixed species swarms and purely female swarms.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Polish Journal of Entomology |
| Volume | 87 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 191-197 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| ISSN | 2299-9884 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2018 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- biting midges
- Culicoides gornostaevae
- Culicoides impunctatus
- Culicoides obsoletus
- female swarming
- mixed swarming