CHIRONOMID- LARVAE CULTURE
•CHIRONOMIDS ARE ALSO KNOWN AS
BLOODWORMS.
•THEY ARE ACTUALLY THE LARVAL FORMS OF THE FLY
CHIRONOMID.
•THEY ARE FOUND IN PLACES WHERE ORGANIC
MATTER IS PLENTILY AVAILABLE.
Classification of Chironomid
larvae
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Suborder: Nematocera
Infraorder: Culicomorpha
Superfamily: Chironomoidea
Family: Chironomoidea
Subfamily: Chironominae
Tribe: Chironominae
Genus: Chironomous
•Chironomid
•The chironomid larvae is known as blood
worms due to the presence of haemoglobin in
their bodies
•. Chironomous genus is the largest members
among them.
•The larvae sustain on the organic material
contained in the mud and are found in all
kinds of still water where there is a deposit of
mud and organic debris.
•The larvae attain a size suitable for feeding
purposes in 16-20 Days.
•
•Its growth and development can be
influenced by numerous environmental
factors=
• including temperature and photoperiod, food
availability and food quality and quantity
•. Chironomid larvae are excellent source of
protein lipid, vitamins and minerals.
HABIT, HABITAT, OTHER DETAILS
Origin Still bodies of water
Maximum Size About an inch
Life Cycle 10-12 days from egg to adults.
Temperature Room temp
Water Aerated and sponge filtered
Potential Mosquito larvae
Invader
Foods Very fine organic matter
Lighting Immaterial. Dark best.
Containers Covered plastic shoe boxes
Maintenance Daily monitoring for pupae
CHIRONOMID
LARVAE
Chironomid larvae-LIFE CYCLE
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Suborder: Nematocera
Infraorder: Culicomorpha
Superfamily: Chironomoidea
Family: Chironomidae
Subfamily: Chironominae
Tribe: Chironomini
Genus: Chironomus
Biology and culture of chironomid larvae
•After mating in flight the female
releases the eggs while skimming
the water surface.
• Their eggs are laid in gelatinous
strings with some species having
red larvae.
•Egg numbers can range from 50 to
700.
•The eggs sink to the bottom where,
under tropical conditions, they hatch
in 24~48 hours into the next stage -
the larva or aquatic stage.
• The newly hatched larvae are not
more than 1 mm long but they can
measure up to 10~25 mm when they
reach the last stage of the larva
period.
•They have high reproductive capacity,
each female lay about 2300 eggs in one
batch which hatch in about three days at
temperature (18-22oC).
• Those that reach the surface emerge
into flying adults after a few hours and
immediately fly off to mate, living only a
few hours or days.
•The adults do not feed during their
adult existence and mating normally
occurs during the night.
•The entire life cycle can be
completed in 2 weeks, although it is
common for the life cycle to take
longer to complete.
The larva stage can
last from less than 2
weeks up to 7 weeks
depending on
temperature.
Each larva moults
four times before it
reaches the pupal
stage.
The pupa is usually
formed in the mud tube
and it protrudes its
head from one end of
the tube so that the
breathing filaments can
be waved about in the
water.
The pupae emerge to
the surface before
swimming.
The larvae are herbivorous in feeding
habit and feed on algae, detritus,
decaying vegetable matter. Initially
the larvae live in soft tubes made-up
of organic matter, which can be
clearly seen at the bottom of the tray.
After2 to 3 days, they come out of the
tubes and freely swim in water
vertically.
The larvae are harvested with scoop net and
washed thoroughly before feeding. It
constitutes one of the staple food items in the
ration of nearly all-carnivorous young fishes.
In Malaysia Chironomid larvae are cultured in
70 liter tank containing palm oil mill effluent
(POME) and Chlorella vulgaris separately. The
production of Chironomid larvae is
significantly higher in POME tanks
(580g/20/POME)than in Chlorella culture
(35g/20 lit )chlorella culture;.
Raw POME
contained
significantly :
higher arginine,
methionine,
isoleucine and
phyenalanine the
algae grown on
methionine
fertilizer.
The essential amino acids of chinoronomid
larvae grown POME such as histamine,
arginine, methionine, isolecine,phenylalanine
and lysine were significantly higher than the
Chironomid larva.
Grown on algal culture.
The polyunsaturated fatty acids(PUFA) with
the exception of T-linolenic acid (18:3 n-6),
are higher in Chironomid larvae grown on
POME than those grown on algal culture
(Habib, et, al. 1997)..,
Culture method-
The bottom of the old sink or plastic
tub my be laden with broken bricks up
to 10 cm depth, followed by a layer of
soil to a thickness of 15 cm. (It will be
good if the soil is taken-from the
upper portion of the field where the
earthworm inhabit. The soil may not
be taken from fertilizer or pesticide
applied area.
Small lumps of cattle dung maybe
spread on this soil. Over this an
inoculum of earthworms is to be
added.
The number to be added as inoculum
has to vary according to the size of the
bed. In 4’x4’x4’ size bed 100 number
can be inoculated.
Nitrogen-rich green leaves have to be
kept over‘ the soil.
Over the green leaves, a layer of
household vegetable wastes like
vegetable peelings, stale bread and so
forth have to be placed.
Addition of vegetable wastes should
continue until the unit becomes full.
The entire set up should be kept cool
and damp with coconut leaves and
watering once in a while.
After 45-50 days the content of the
sink tub has to be taken out and the
worms collected. This culture method
can be maintained throughout the
year. The culture system is
inexpensive. Processing & feeding
after collecting the worms in a glass-
jar the worms have to be washed
thoroughly to free them from soil and
mud.
