BIOL 111 Lab
Rebecca Wilson
November 7, 2013
MicroAquarium Observation #4
After my last observation, there was much activity in the micro aquarium due to the addition of the Beta food pellet. In my imagination I thought that there would be even more organisms present due to the addition of that food source but that was simply not the case. As I sat down to observe my micro aquarium, I was astonished to find that something has wrecked havoc on the my micro aquarium. As I began to view my micro aquarium, there was neither organism life in the bottom, center, or top section of the micro aquarium. I also noticed that the plant material had been partially eaten and torn apart. After even more observation, I noticed that there were many dead organisms sitting on the glass of the micro aquarium. While searching for a organism(s) that caused such a disruption in the ecosystem of my micro aquarium, I discovered the culprit. To my amazement, I found a single Midge, or better known as insect larvae. We identified this Midge as a Chironomidae sp. Becasue the Chironomidae sp. had eaten all of the present organisms in the micro aquarium, it then moved on to the present plant material which I observed it to be consuming the plant Utricularea, which is a green type plant. I observed the Chironomidae sp. to be focused anywhere that there was Utricularea no matter where it was in the micro aquarium. The Chironomidae sp. moved constantly while feeding. The Chironomidae sp. has a segmented body and a brown outer skin. While this has been a radical turn of events in my micro aquarium, I am interested to see how the Chironomidae sp. adapts to its enviroment after consuming all of the present organisms. Below is a video showing the Chironomidae sp. eating a piece of Utricularea.
Video 1
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