A Technique for Observing the Behaviour of Small Animals Under Field Conditions
Small animals are difficult to observe under field conditions, and arthropods of less than 10 mm body length are particularly difficult subjects. When such animals are making complex movemerits with small parts of their body (mouth parts, reproductive organs) some device is needed to augment direct...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
1976-01-01
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| Series: | Psyche: A Journal of Entomology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/1976/14501 |
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| Summary: | Small animals are difficult to observe under field conditions,
and arthropods of less than 10 mm body length are particularly
difficult subjects. When such animals are making complex movemerits
with small parts of their body (mouth parts, reproductive
organs) some device is needed to augment direct vision. One solution
to the problem is to use the zoom optics of a movie camera
equipped with close-up devices (Robinson & Robinson, 1972).
Recently, however, one of us (M.H.R.) studied the behaviour of
Drosophila-sized flies that associate with orb-web spiders and
spend long periods standing on the spider’s body. To find out what
the flies were doing there it was essential to see them in close-up and
be able to watch them, for long periods, under field conditions.
Watching them through the macrosystem of a movie camera gave
insufficient magnification. We solved the problem by adapting a
stereo-binocular microscope for horizontal viewing. We feel that
this adaptation has a wide variety of potential applications in field
ethology. It may be a re-invention but is worth describing here. |
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| ISSN: | 0033-2615 1687-7438 |