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Title: Post-feeding plant licking in a sawfly larva of Dolerus sp.
Author(s): Kozłowski M. W. Warsaw Agricultural University SGGW,Dept. of Applied Entomology
Place: Grale near Myszyniec, Poland
Date: 1999-05-15
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Online since: 1999-05-15
Systematics: Dolerus sp. < Tentheredinidae < Hymenoptera < Insecta
Clip duration: 01:08
 
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European Dolerus spp. larvae feed on pipe shaped leaves Juncus spp. leaves. They feed in bouts interlaced with periods of resting. Here I recorded the end of such a feeding bout in a nearly full-grown larva. The movement at the top of pipe shaped leaf was composed of nearly full clockwise turns while feeding, followed by rapid returns. After feeding ceased, the larva licks the wound made by feeding bites carefully. It moves its maxillae and labium on the wound repeatedly. As the video shows a transparent liquid deposited along the wound while licking, one can assume that the function of this post-feeding licking is to cover the wound with a substance (saliva?) preventing desiccation of the wound (preparing the leaf for the next feeding bout) then ingesting the sap from the wound. Proof of this assumption would require further observation.

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