Locomotor and energetic consequences of behavioral thermoregulation in the sanguivorous leech Hirudo verbana.

Medicinal leeches (Hirudo verbana) thermoregulate with respect to their sanguivorous feeding behavior. Immediate postprandial preferences are for warmer than their initial acclimation temperature (T, 21°C, Petersen et al. 2011), while unfed leeches have a lower preferred temperature (T, 12.