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Electronic tags for the tracking of insects in flight: effect of weight on flight performance of adult Colorado potato beetles
Author(s) -
Boiteau Gilles,
Colpitts Bruce
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1046/j.1570-7458.2001.00863.x
Subject(s) - leptinotarsa , colorado potato beetle , biology , wing , biological dispersal , pest analysis , range (aeronautics) , horticulture , wing loading , botany , population , physics , demography , materials science , sociology , angle of attack , composite material , aerodynamics , thermodynamics
The wing loading of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), was found to decrease slightly with increasing size over a wide range of individual sizes and independent of sex. This makes it possible to use tags of the same weight for beetles of all sizes and suggests that if the addition of light electronic tags has any effect on the beetle's flight it will be similar across beetle size. The wing loading of individual potato beetles ranged from an average minimum 10.9 N m −2 to an average maximum of 15.6 N m −2 as their weights fluctuated over time following water and food uptake or dispersal. However, tests carried out in flight chambers indicate that beetles become incapable of upward flight as they go beyond an average wing loading of 11.8 N m −2 , that is 101 μN (10.3 mg) beyond their minimum weight. It is estimated from our results that electronic tags should weigh no more than 23–33% of the potato beetle's acceptable extra loading for the technique to have no or minimal impact on the number and quality of upward flights taken.