Abstract
The diet of the collembolanGomphiocephalus hodgsoni was investigated by microscopic examination of the contents of 197 faecal pellets and 32 guts collected at Cape Geology, Victoria Land, Antarctica. Animals came from nine contrasting microhabitats, ranging from mineral soils to bryophyte cushions. Thirty-two different types of ingested material were recognised. Detritus, filamentous cyanobacteria, eukaryotic microalgae and fungal hyphae were the most frequent. There were marked contrasts between individuals collected from different microhabitats, which probably reflected food availability. There was some selectivity in that neither living moss tissue nor the macroscopic chlorophyte algaPrasiola crispa was encountered in faeces or guts, despite their being abundant in some microhabitats. A comparison of active and inactive animals showed the latter to have a significantly higher proportion of empty guts and of guts containing fat globules.
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Davidson, M.M., Broady, P.A. Analysis of gut contents ofGomphiocephalus hodgsoni carpenter (collembola: Hypogastruridae) at Cape Geology, Antarctica. Polar Biol 16, 463–467 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02329064
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02329064