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The effects of temperature, relative humidity, light, and resource quality on flight initiation in the red flour beetle, T ribolium castaneum
Author(s) -
Drury Douglas W.,
Whitesell Matthew E.,
Wade Michael J.
Publication year - 2016
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 - 10.1111/eea.12401
Subject(s) - relative humidity , biology , context (archaeology) , humidity , red flour beetle , ecology , botany , atmospheric sciences , larva , meteorology , geography , paleontology , geology
We investigated the environmental conditions that induce a flight response in the red flour beetle, T ribolium castaneum H erbst ( C oleoptera: T enebrionidae), including resource quality, temperature, relative humidity, and light. Over 72‐h trial periods, we observed the proportion of individuals emigrating by flight to range from 0.0 in extreme heat or cold to 0.82 with starvation. Resource quality, presence of a light source, and temperature all directly influenced the initiation of the flight response. We did not detect any effect of relative humidity or sudden change in temperature on the incidence of flight. We discuss our findings in the context of T ribolium ecology and evolution.