ABSTRACT
The oxygen consumption rates of 3rd- and 4th-instar larvae of Chironomus riparius have been measured at 10 and 20° C. using a constant-volume respirometer.
The oxygen consumption is approximately proportional to the 0·7 power of the dry weight : it is not proportional to the estimated surface area.
This relationship between oxygen consumption and dry weight is the same at 10 and at 20° C.
The rate of oxygen consumption at 20° C. is greater than at 10° C. by a factor of 2·6.
During growth the percentage of dry matter of 4th-instar larvae increases from 10 to 16 and the specific gravity from 1·030 to 1043.
The change in the dry weight/wet weight ratio during the 4th larval instar supports the theory of heterauxesis.
At 20° C., ‘summer’ larvae respire faster than ‘winter’ larvae.
See Freshwater Biological Association Annual Report, 23, 1955, p. 38.
