Three-dimensional analysis of aphid landing behaviour in the laboratory and field

The final second of the landing approach of black bean aphids, Aphis fabae, was analysed in three dimensions using video techniques. A yellow landing platform was placed upwind or downwind from aphids aggregating under a ceiling light in a laboratory wind tunnel with 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 cm s^–1 wind speeds, and up-tunnel or down-tunnel in still air. As individual aphids flew to the platform, body orientation (assessed by direct observation) was predominantly into-wind whether the initial flight direction to the landing platform was upwind or downwind. A greater proportion showed into-wind body orientation as wind speed increased. Flight track parameters which differed significantly between wind speeds were the track length, linear start to finish distance, linearity index, horizontal ground speed, speed vertical to the ground, vertical turning rate, and horizontal turning rate. The position of the landing platform was important for track length, linear start to finish distance, horizontal ground speed, three-dimensional turning rate, horizontal turning rate, vertical turning rate, and sinuosity. As wind speed increased above 30 cm s^–1 the ground speed became more consistent and indicated considerable variation in air speed to adjust for ground speed. For the majority of aphids there was a strong preference (88%) for into-wind landings with initial upwind directed flight, while for downwind flights a significant number (55%) of insects reversed initial flight direction and landed into-wind. Field recorded landings showed that 66% of aphids landed into-wind and there was a mean bearing to the wind of 71 ± 42°, a similar finding to wind-tunnel studies.     

Activation, orientation and landing of female Culex quinquefasciatus in response to carbon dioxide and odour from human feet: 3-D flight analysis in a wind tunnel

This study investigated the interaction between carbon dioxide (CO(2) ) and human foot odour on activation, upwind orientation and landing of host-seeking female Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) (Diptera: Culicidae) in a wind tunnel. More mosquitoes landed on warmed glass beads coated with foot odour than on clean beads; adding a plume of 4% CO(2) did not influence the proportion of mosquitoes landing. A second experiment used 3-dimensional video tracking to assess flight performance. Activation was more rapid with CO(2) and with CO(2) + foot odour than with clean air or with foot odour alone. Upwind flights were fastest with CO(2) and with clean air, and slowest with foot odour; the CO(2) + foot odour treatment overlapped the previous three treatments in significance. Flight headings tended more towards due upwind with CO(2) and with clean air than with CO(2) + foot odour or with foot odour alone. In both experiments, many mosquitoes flew upwind in clean air. There was little evidence of females changing course upon entering or exiting the CO(2) plume or reacting to foot odour during flight.     

Dispersal of large branchiopod cysts: potential movement by wind from potholes on the Colorado Plateau

Wind is suspected to be a primary dispersal mechanism for large branchiopod cysts on the Colorado Plateau. We used a wind tunnel to investigate wind velocities capable of moving pothole sediment and cysts from intact and disturbed surfaces. Material moved in the wind tunnel was trapped in filters; cysts were separated from sediment and counted. Undisturbed sediment moved at velocities as low as 5.9 m s^?1 (12.3 miles h^?1). A single all-terrain vehicle (ATV) track increased the sediment mass collected 10-fold, with particles moving at a wind velocity of only 4.2 m s^?1 (8.7 miles h^?1). Cysts were recovered from every wind tunnel trial. Measured wind velocities are representative of low-wind speeds measured near Moab, Utah. Wind can move large numbers of cysts to and from potholes on the Colorado Plateau. Our results indicate that large branchiopod cysts move across pothole basins at low-wind speeds; additional work is needed to establish velocities at which cysts move between potholes.     

Reduced antennal sensitivity, behavioural response, and attraction of male codling moths, Cydia pomonella, to their pheromone (E,E)-8,10-dodecadien-1-ol following various pre-exposure regimes

The effects of pre‐exposing male codling moths, Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), to their pheromone (E,E)‐8,10‐dodecadien‐1‐ol (codlemone), in static and moving air, under laboratory and field conditions, on subsequent antennal sensitivity, behavioural responsiveness, and attraction to codlemone were investigated. In flight tunnel experiments, the percentage of moths wing fanning and taking flight were mostly unaffected, but upwind flight to, and contact with, pheromone sources known to elicit responses of both were shown to depend on the intensity and duration of previous exposure to codlemone and recovery time between exposure and assessment. Ten to 30‐min pre‐exposures to codlemone in static air (≈ 35 µg l^?1) not only caused a 99% reduction in attraction, but also significantly reduced electroantennogram response to codlemone. Recovery of full antennal sensitivity to codlemone took more than 1 h, but recovery of attraction took over 4 h, suggesting that habituation is also partially involved in reduced behavioural responsiveness following pre‐exposure. Seventy‐five min exposures to codlemone in moving air (5–10 cm s^?1) at rates of 0.9, 4.5, and 18 µg h^?1 from Celcon fibres caused 75, 86, and 99% disruption, respectively. However, 30–34‐h exposure of caged moths to air moving through an orchard treated with 1000 Isomate‐C® dispensers ha^?1 releasing approximately 20 µg h^?1 per dispenser during tests, had no impact on moth response in flight‐tunnel assays 30 min after removal from the orchard. In this treated orchard, catches of free‐flying moths in pheromone‐baited traps were completely inhibited. If observed mechanisms such as long‐lasting antennal adaptation or habituation of the central nervous system contribute to the disruption of pheromone communication among codling moths under field conditions, it seems unlikely that they occur following exposure to the average atmospheric concentrations of codlemone. For these effects to be important, codling moths may require close contact with pheromone sources for extended periods, or repeated close encounters.     

Behavior of red king crab larvae: Phototaxis,geotaxis and rheotaxis

Zoeae of Paralithodes camtschatica were positively phototactic to white light intensities above 1 × 10¹³ q cm^?2 s^?1. Negative phototaxis occurred at low (1 × 10¹² q cm^?2 s^?1), but not high intensities (2.2 × 10¹⁶q cm^?2 s^?1). Phototactic response was directly related to light intensity. Zoeae also responded to red, green and blue light. Zoeae were negatively geotactic, but geotaxis was dominated by phototaxis. Horizontal swimming speed of stage 1 zoeae <4 d old was 2.4 ± 0.1 (SE) cms^?1 and decreased to 1.7 ± 0.1 cm s^?1 in older zoeae (P <0.01). Horizontal swimming speed of stage 2 zoeae was not significantly different from ≥4 d old stage 1 zoeae. Vertical swimming speed, 1.6 ± 0.1 cm s^?1, and sinking rate, 0.7 ± 0.1 cm s^?1, did not change with ontogeny. King crab zoeae were positively rheotactic and maintained position in horizontal currents less than 1.4 cm s^?1. Starvation reduced swimming and sinking rates and phototactic response.     

A new Y-tube olfactometer for mosquitoes to measure the attractiveness of host odours

The behavioural responses of flying western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) to the colour yellow and the odour anisaldehyde were examined. In a wind tunnel, upwind flight by female thrips was common in an airflow of 0.11 m s^–1 but was impeded at 0.22 m s^–1. In the absence of anisaldehyde, flying female thrips exhibited an oriented response towards a yellow cue in the wind tunnel at a wind speed of 0.11 m s^–1. The main response of females to anisaldehyde in the wind tunnel was flight inhibition. There was no evidence of an odour-induced visual response, an odour-induced anemotactic response or chemotaxis by female thrips to anisaldehyde in wind tunnel bioassays, but chemokinesis was implicated. With a matrix of yellow or black water traps with and without anisaldehyde in a greenhouse sweet pepper crop, yellow traps with anisaldehyde caught more thrips adults than yellow traps without anisaldehyde, black traps with anisaldehyde and black traps without anisaldehyde (1.3, 28 and 721 times for males respectively and 2.4, 9 and 117 times for females, respectively). Differences between respective traps were statistically significant in almost all cases. Trapping experiments using a centre-baited trap design to reduce the interaction of anisaldehyde between baited and unbaited traps were undertaken in tomato and sweet pepper greenhouse crops. When the spatial distribution of the thrips adult population within the greenhouse was taken into account, yellow water traps with anisaldehyde caught between 11 and 15 times more female and 3 and 20 times more male F. occidentalis adults than yellow traps without anisaldehyde.     

Odour movement, wind direction, and the problem of host-finding by tsetse flies

ABSTRACT. Movement of host odour was modelled in natural tsetse habitats with smoke and ultra-light 7-cm-long wind vanes; the speed and direction of the air movements were analysed from video recordings thereof. Wind of <1 ms^-1 did not move in straight lines, since large packets of air (>10 m across) often changed direction together. The rate of this change of direction (meander) correlated negatively with windspeed. In open woodland with a shrubby understorey (in which windspeed was reduced by a factor of >5 from that above the canopy, to ax 0.3 m s^-1), this wind meander fell by 2d? s^-1 change of direction for each 0.1 m s^-1 increase in windspeed (r²=0.96). Over open ground without shrub cover, the meander fell by 0.5d? s^-1 per 0.1 m s^-1 increase in windspeed (r²=0.85). In both situations, such meandering virtually ceased in winds of > 1 m s^-1. In woodland, the relationship between the direction of air movement near the surface of bare earth (one potential tsetse landing site) and that c. 0.5 m above ground level (flight height) was often weak (r²=0.2-0.4), but this problem would be reduced if the fly averaged the ground-level wind for at least 30 s. Odour (smoke) travelling from a source 15 m ‘upwind’ over open ground arrived at a notional tsetse fly for 80% of the time from a direction within 10d? of the true source direction. In typical tsetse woodland, however, the ‘odour’ arrived from all directions (including >90d? away from the source), with only a 30% bias towards the true source direction (±10d?). Evidently, tsetse must navigate up odour plumes by means that get round these difficulties-simple, moth-type upwind anemotaxis alone seems unlikely to be adequate.     

A computer-controlled system for studying ammonia exchange, photosynthesis and transpiration of plant canopies growing under controlled environmental conditions

A fully automatic growth chamber system was built in order to study NH₃, exchange and NH₃, compensation points of plant canopies growing under controlled environmental conditions in which atmospheric NH₃, concentrations corresponded to those naturally occurring over terrestrial ecosystems. The system included plant cuvettes with separate root and shoot compartments constructed of coated polycarbonate. This material did not change the spectral composition of photosynthetically active light and had a low adsorption of NH₃, and water vapour. Atmospheric NH₃, concentrations in the inlet of the cuvettes were controlled by mass-flow controllers. Inlet and outlet NH₃, concentrations were measured on-line with a modified chemiluminescent NH₃, monitor. At airflow rates per unit leaf area of about 3 dm³ m^?2 s^?1, the system allowed accurate determinations of NH₃, exchange rates down to about 0.1 nmol NH₃, m^?2 s^?1. The NH₃, compensation points at anthesis for barley cultivars Laevigatum and Golf were 4.2±2.8 and 4.6±2.9nmol mol^?1 of NH₃, in air (SE, n=4), respectively. NH₃, absorption in both cultivars increased linearly with atmospheric NH₃, concentration in the range 0–30 nmol mol^?1 of NH₃, in air. NH₃, absorption was much higher in the light than in the dark, indicating a strong stomatal and/or metabolic control of NH₃, exchange. Photosynthesis and transpiration were not affected by exposure to NH₃, concentrations in the range 0–30nmol mol^?1 for 7d.     

Human sweat and 2-oxopentanoic acid elicit a landing response from Anopheles gambiae

A wind tunnel bioassay and video to observe mosquitoes landing on heated glass cylinders were used to test sweat and some derivatives for responses of Anopheles gambiae Giles (Diptera: Culicidae), a highly anthropophilic African species of malaria vector. Filter papers impregnated with human sweat and a diethyl ether extract from the filter papers elicited significantly more landings than a water control (P<0.001). The concentration of lactic acid in the extract was determined by GLC assay, but bioassays of an equivalent dose of lactic acid (from a commercial supplier) did not elicit landings. Chemical analysis of the extract by combined GLC/mass spectrometry indicated the presence of 73 compounds, of which 40 were tentatively identified. The major components of the extract were aliphatic carboxylic acids. An artificial blend of 22 carboxylic acids did not elicit landings. Bioassays of 2-oxopentanoic acid elicited significantly more, landings (P<0.001). The possible importance of oxo-carboxylic acids for host-seeking by anthropophilic mosquitoes is discussed and their use for trapping is suggested.     

Visual ground pattern modulates flight speed of male Oriental fruit moth Grapholita molesta

Insects flying in a horizontal pheromone plume must attend to visual cues to ensure that they make upwind progress. Moreover, it is suggested that flying insects will also modulate their flight speed to maintain a constant retinal angular velocity of terrestrial contrast elements. Evidence from flies and honeybees supports such a hypothesis, although tests with male moths and beetles flying in pheromone plumes are not conclusive. These insects typically fly faster at higher elevations above a high‐contrast ground pattern, as predicted by the hypothesis, although the increase in speed is not sufficient to demonstrate quantitatively that they maintain constant visual angular velocity of the ground pattern. To test this hypothesis more rigorously, the flight speed of male oriental fruit moths (OFM) Grapholita molesta Busck (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) flying in a sex pheromone plume in a laboratory wind tunnel is measured at various heights (5–40 cm) above patterns of different spatial wavelength (1.8–90°) in the direction of flight. The OFM modulate their flight speed three‐fold over different patterns. They fly fastest when there is no pattern in the tunnel or the contrast elements are too narrow to resolve. When the spatial wavelength of the pattern is sufficiently wide to resolve, moths fly at a speed that tends to maintain a visual contrast frequency of 3.5 ± 3.2 Hz rather than a constant angular velocity, which varies from 57 to 611° s^?1. In addition, for the first time, it is also demonstrated that the width of a contrast pattern perpendicular to the flight direction modulates flight speed.     

Movement of the grape berry moth, Endopiza viteana: displacement distance and direction

Abstract. Mark–release–recapture is used to quantify displacement by adults of the North American grape berry moth, Endopiza viteana Clemens (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) under field conditions. Moths marked with fluorescent dust are released eight times in the centre of a vineyard over 2 years, and recaptured using pheromone traps and interception traps. In vineyards, male moths are recaptured an average of 13.8 ± 0.8 m from the release site (maximum 58.2 m), whereas female displacement is similar with average flight distances of 11.4 ± 6.7 m (maximum 41.2 m). Increasing wind speed during moth flight activity periods suppresses displacement by both sexes, and females are less likely than males to fly in winds above 0.6 m s^?1. The majority of males are recaptured upwind from the release site or at a tangent to the overall mean wind direction when responding to pheromone traps, whereas female moths trapped in interception traps exhibit a large variability in direction from the release point. Releases of marked moths in woods adjacent to a vineyard demonstrates interhabitat movement by E. viteana males and by a single female. The average maximum displacement by males during interhabitat movement is 105.4 ± 3.9 m, significantly greater than the average maximum of 39.7 ± 6.7 m inside the vineyard habitat.     

Bimodal oxygen uptake in a freshwater air-breathing fish,Notopterus chitala

Measurements of bimodal oxygen uptake have been made in a freshwater air-breathing fish,Notopterus chitala at 29.0±1(S.D.)°C. xhe mean oxygen uptake from continuously flowing water without any access to air, was found to be 3.58±0.37 (S.E.) ml O₂ · h^?1 and 56.84+4.29 (S.E.) ml O₂ · kg^?1 · h^?1 for a fish weighing 66.92 + 11.27 (S.E.) g body weight. In still water with access to air, the mean oxygen uptake through the gills were recorded to be 2.49 ± 0.31 (S.E.) ml O₂ · h^?1 and 38.78 ± 1.92 (S.E.) ml O₂ · kg^?1 · h^?1 and through the accessory respiratory organs (swim-bladder) 6.04±0.87 (S.E.) ml O₂ · h^?1 and 92.32±2.91 (S.E.) ml O₂ · kg^?1 · h^?1 for a fish averaging 66.92±11.27 (S.E.) g. Out of the total oxygen uptake (131.10 ml O₂ · kg^?1 · h^?1), about 70% was obtained through the aerial route and the remainder 30% through the gills.     

Respiration of thermogenic inflorescences of skunk cabbage Symplocarpus renifolius in heliox

The respiration rate of the thermogenic inflorescences of Japanese skunk cabbage Symplocarpus renifolius can reach 300 nmol s^?1 g^?1, which is sufficient to raise spadix temperature (T_s) up to 15 ° C above ambient air temperature (T_a). Respiration rate is inversely related to T_a, such that the T_s achieves a degree of independence from T_a, an effect known as temperature regulation. Here, we measure oxygen consumption rate (?o ₂) in air (21% O₂ in mainly N₂) and in heliox (21% O₂ in He) to investigate the diffusive conductance of the network of gas‐filled spaces and the thermoregulatory response. When T_s was clamped at 15 ° C, the temperature that produces maximal ?o ₂ in this species, exposure to high diffusivity heliox increased mean ?o ₂ significantly from 137 ± 17 to 202 ± 43 nmol s^?1 g^?1 FW, indicating that respiration in air is normally limited by diffusion in the gas phase and some mitochondria are unsaturated. When T_a was clamped at 15 ° C and T_s was allowed to vary, exposure to heliox reduced T_s 1 ° C and increased ?o ₂ significantly from 116 ± 10 to 137 ± 19 nmol s^?1 g^?1, indicating that enhanced heat loss by conduction and convection can elicit the thermoregulatory response.     

The critical swimming speed of Iberian barbel Barbus bocagei in relation to size and sex

The swimming capacity of Barbus bocagei was measured with the critical swimming speed (U_crit) standard test in a modified Bla?ka‐type swim tunnel. Sixty B. bocagei were tested and they exhibited a mean ±s .d . U_crit of 0·81 ± 0·11 m s^?1 or 3·1 ± 0·86 total lengths per second (L_T s^?1). Sex had no effect on U_crit but significant differences were found between the swimming performance of fish with distinct sizes.     

Distribution,dispersal and spread of the invasive social wasp (Vespula germanica) in Argentina

We studied the distribution and spread of the invasive social wasp Vespula germanica in Argentina, focusing on the contribution of queen dispersal to territorial expansion. Vespula germanica is native to Eurasia and has invaded several regions of the world, including Southern Argentina. Flight potential of field‐collected queens was measured using flight mills. Also, by means of an extensive survey we estimated the rate of spread by analysing the relationship between years since arrival and distance from the introduction locality. The mean distance flown by wasp queens in flight mills was 404.7 ± 140.8 m (mean ± SE, n = 59), while the rate of spread of V. germanica was estimated at 37.2 ± 2.1 km year^?1 (mean ± SE, n = 67), although faster towards the south. The observed spread rate of V. germanica wasps in Argentina confirms the invasive potential shown by several Hymenoptera species worldwide. Still, a stratified geographical expansion pattern does not match observed queen dispersal abilities, suggesting that human‐aided transport of hibernating queens is the central driver of the current distribution of these wasps. We suggest that despite several life‐history traits known for social insects that contribute to successful invasion, wasp spread must still rely strongly on human mediated pathways. This observation sheds light on those factors that are crucial for managing invasions of this and related pestiferous wasps.     

Flight directionality of Tribolium castaneum soon after take‐off under glasshouse and field conditions

Flight directionality of the rust‐red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), was investigated under glasshouse and field conditions using sticky traps placed around dense experimental infestations of T. castaneum derived from field‐collected samples. Although beetles of this species are known to fly quite readily, information on flight of beetles away from grain resources is limited. Under still glasshouse conditions, T. castaneum does not demonstrate strong horizontal or vertical trajectories in their initial flight behaviour. Flight was significantly directional in half of the replicates, but trapped beetles were only weakly concentrated around the mean direction of flight. In the field, by contrast, emigration of T. castaneum was strongly directional soon after flight initiation. The mean vector lengths were generally >0.5 which indicates that trapped beetles were strongly concentrated around the calculated mean flight direction. A circular‐circular regression of mean flight vs. mean downwind direction suggested that flight direction was generally correlated with downwind direction. The mean height at which T. castaneum individuals initially flew was 115.4 ± 7.0 cm, with 58.3% of beetles caught no more than 1 m above the ground. The height at which beetles were trapped did not correlate with wind speed at the time of sampling, but the data do indicate that wind speed significantly affected T. castaneum flight initiation, because no beetles (or very few; no more than three) were trapped in the field when the mean wind speed was above 3 m s^?1. This study thus demonstrates that wind speed and direction are both important aspects of flight behaviour of T. castaneum, and therefore of the spatio‐temporal dynamics of this species.     

Effects of airflow on body temperatures and sleep stages in a warm humid climate

Airflow is an effective way to increase heat loss—an ongoing process during sleep and wakefulness in daily life. However, it is unclear whether airflow stimulates cutaneous sensation and disturbs sleep or reduces the heat load and facilitates sleep. In this study, 17 male subjects wearing short pyjamas slept on a bed with a cotton blanket under two of the following conditions: (1) air temperature (Ta) 26°C, relative humidity (RH) 50%, and air velocity (V) 0.2 m s⁻¹; (2) Ta 32°C, RH 80%, V 1.7 m s⁻¹; (3) Ta 32°C; RH 80%, V 0.2 m s⁻¹ (hereafter referred to as 26/50, 32/80 with airflow, and 32/80 with still air, respectively). Electroencephalograms, electrooculograms, and mental electromyograms were obtained for all subjects. Rectal (Tre) and skin (Ts) temperatures were recorded continuously during the sleep session, and body-mass was measured before and after the sleep session. No significant differences were observed in the duration of sleep stages between subjects under the 26/50 and 32/80 with airflow conditions; however, the total duration of wakefulness decreased significantly in subjects under the 32/80 with airflow condition compared to that in subjects under the 32/80 with still air condition (P < 0.05). Tre, Tsk, Ts, and body-mass loss under the 32/80 with airflow condition were significantly higher compared to those under the 26/50 condition, and significantly lower than those under the 32/80 with still air condition (P < 0.05). An alleviated heat load due to increased airflow was considered to exist between the 32/80 with still air and the 26/50 conditions. Airflow reduces the duration of wakefulness by decreasing Tre, Tsk, Ts, and body-mass loss in a warm humid condition.     

Flight muscle changes in male pine engraver beetles during reproduction: the effects of body size, mating status and breeding failure

Abstract. In a pattern that is typical for bark beetles, the lateralis medius flight muscle of male pine engravers, Ips pini Say (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), was found to decrease four-fold in volume (from mean ± SE = 1.36 ± 0.06 × 10^?2 mm³ to 0.34 ± 0.06 × 10^?2 mm³) within five days of the initiation of breeding galleries, and then to regenerate gradually to functional capacity during subsequent weeks. Although there was considerable variation in the timing and extent of flight muscle regeneration in males, this variation was not a consequence of differences between small (length < 4.0 mm) and large (length ≥ 4.0 mm) males. Two subsequent experiments revealed that male pine engravers can control the timing of flight muscle regeneration. In the first experiment, the flight muscles of males that were denied mates degenerated within 5 days of gallery initiation, but then showed complete regeneration 5 days later. In the second experiment, mated males that were removed from their breeding galleries (to simulate breeding failure) also showed extensive muscle degeneration 5 days after gallery initiation, but then regenerated their flight muscles to functional capacity by the tenth day. The ability of males to regenerate their flight muscles in response to conditions at the gallery is probably adaptive because it allows them to fly in search of new breeding opportunities when they are unable to attract mates or when breeding attempts fail.     

Soil–atmosphere exchange of CH4, CO,N2O and NOx and the effects of land‐use change in the semiarid Mallee system in Southeastern Australia

The semiarid and arid zones cover a quarter of the global land area and support one‐fifth of the world's human population. A significant fraction of the global soil–atmosphere exchange for climatically active gases occurs in semiarid and arid zones yet little is known about these exchanges. A study was made of the soil–atmosphere exchange of CH₄, CO, N₂O and NO_x in the semiarid Mallee system, in north‐western Victoria, Australia, at two sites: one pristine mallee and the other cleared for approximately 65 years for farming (currently wheat). The mean (± standard error) rates of CH₄ exchange were uptakes of ?3.0 ± 0.5 ng(C) m^?2 s^?1 for the Mallee and ?6.0 ± 0.3 ng(C) m^?2 s^?1 for the Wheat. Converting mallee forest to wheat crop increases CH₄ uptake significantly. CH₄ emissions were observed in the Mallee in summer and were hypothesized to arise from termite activity. We find no evidence that in situ growing wheat plants emit CH₄, contrary to a recent report. The average CO emissions of 10.1 ± 1.8 ng(C) m^?2 s^?1 in the Mallee and 12.6 ± 2.0 ng(C) m^?2 s^?1 in the Wheat. The average N₂O emissions were 0.5 ± 0.1 ng(N) m^?2 s^?1 from the pristine Mallee and 1.4 ± 0.3 ng(N) m^?2 s^?1 from the Wheat. The experimental results show that the processes controlling these exchanges are different to those in temperate systems and are poorly understood.     

粘虫成虫在气流场中飞行行为的观察研究

通过改进悬吊测飞技术、室内风洞和野外雷达相结合的观测方法,研究了粘虫在气流场中的飞行行为特征及其与气流的关系。直筒风洞自由飞行观测的结果表明,粘虫蛾对气流有明显行为反应,表现为头部迎风起飞和迎风飞行的特性;在3.0～5.5 m/s风速下,有92%～94% 的个体可一次逆风飞行通过2 m长的风洞;当风速≥6.0 m/s时,有71.9%的蛾子沿螺旋状的飞行轨迹逆风通过风洞。环形风洞悬吊飞行测试的结果表明,粘虫可逆风飞行的最大风速为7.2 m/s;在风速≤4 m/s条件下,90%以上个体头部迎风飞行或头部朝向与风向成一定的夹角,侧逆风飞行。 雷达观测发现粘虫在空中迁飞过程中具有成层现象,并有较强的秋季回迁定向行为,其头部总是朝向西南;迁飞的最终位移与风向及风速大小有关,迁飞位移速度是飞行速度与风速的矢量和。