Fine Particle Suspension-Feeding Capabilities of Isonychia spp. (Ephemeroptera: Siphlonuridae)

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Abstract
Stream-inhabiting mayflies belonging to the genus Isonychia possess a well-developed fringe of long setae on their forelegs which is used to filter particulate materials suspended in the water column. In this paper we report on a mechanism, composed of 2 different types of microtrichia, that latches thelong filtering setae to adjacent setae. This coupling mechanism results in an effective pore size of 0.1-0.7 εm for portions of the filtration device. Both ultrastructure of the filtering mechanism and foregut particle size analysis indicate that Isonychia are capable of feeding on much smaller particles than previously suspected.