Dear Colleagues,
For many years I was a researcher on black flies... but then moved on to another freshwater filter feeder, dreissenid mussels..... trading two wings for two shells!
But for one evening this November, I will put on my wings again and give a talk on black flies to a lay audience here at the New York State Museum. It will be a general talk to familiarize the public about simuliid biology, ecology, control, etc.
The talk is entitled "Top 10 Little-Known Facts about Black Flies" and I'm looking for suggestions on "little-known" or most-interesting facts relating to simuliids (ideally with nice photos/videos/etc.) from colleagues like you. Again, this is a talk for the general public, so there are general facts that we as scientists are aware of but the public typically is not (e.g., only females take blood meals, our carbon dioxide is a key factor in their tracking us down, etc.) and I'm sure I can come up with 10, but I wanted to throw this question out to black fly specialists, even just for the fun of seeing what facts & graphics come back to me.
So I would appreciate if you would inform me of some fact relating to simuliids that you personally find fascinating .... especially if you have a good graphic to go along with it (e.g., the details of how they feed, how many species there are, what factors stimulate them to fly in search of a blood meal, where adults rest when not flying, what adult males eat,...).
Thanks in advance!
Dan
Daniel P. Molloy, Ph.D.
Director
Field Research Laboratory
Division of Research & Collections
New York State Museum
51 Fish Hatchery Road
Cambridge, NY 12816
Voice: 518-677-8245 (X12)
Fax: 518-677-5236
Email: [log in to unmask]
Website: http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/bio_molloy/
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