Food-finding behavior of selected aquatic detritivores: Direct or indirect behavioral mechanism?

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Abstract
In feeding tests, the aquatic detritivores Pycnopsyche guttifer and Pteronarcys pictetii consumed microbially colonized leaves more readily than uncolonized leaves. Videotape analysis of insect movements in bioassay arenas where colonized and uncolonized leaves were presented in both still and flowing water revealed no evidence for movement directed toward food resources (i.e., attraction). We suggest that gustatory cues sensed after random contact with food items are responsible for the differential arrestment and feeding on colonized versus uncolonized leaves. This is supported by the observation of well-developed gustatory receptors of P. pictetii and P. guttifer. Olfactory receptors of these detritivores resembled those of terrestrial arthropods and their effectiveness in the aquatic medium remains unknown.