The evolution of migration in a seasonal environment

Despite the fact that migration occurs in a wide variety of taxa worldwide, little is known about the conditions under which migration is expected to evolve from an ancestral resident population. We develop a model that focuses on ecological factors affecting the evolution of migration in a seasonal environment within a genetically explicit framework. We model the evolution of migration for two common types of migration: ‘shared breeding’ where migrants share a breeding ground with residents and migrate to a separate non-breeding area, versus ‘shared non-breeding’, where migrants share a non-breeding ground with residents and migrate to a separate breeding area. Ecologically, migration is more easily established in the shared-breeding case versus the shared-non-breeding case. Genetically, the additive effect of a migratory allele affects its establishment more in the shared-non-breeding case versus the shared-breeding case, whereas the dominance effect of the allele affects its establishment more in the shared-breeding case versus the shared-non-breeding case. Generally, migratory alleles can invade even when residents are competitively superior to migrants during the shared season. Partial migration occurs when the population is polymorphic for migratory and non-migratory alleles, and is dependent upon which season is shared and the additive and dominance behaviour of the migratory allele.     

The migration syndrome in the African armyworm moth, Spodoptera exempts: allocation of resources to flight and reproduction

Abstract. Selection for the capacity for prolonged tethered flight in Spodoptera exempta resulted in heavier moths, with significantly larger abdominal glyceride glycerol contents in females of two flight-selected strains (87% and 49% higher than in the comparable non-selected strain) and in males of one of them (80% higher). All flight-selected strains contained individuals of both sexes with very high abdominal glyceride levels. There was no significant relationship between abdominal total glyceride glycerol after flight and flight duration for non-selected moths, but an inverse linear relationship was evident in both sexes from a flight-selected strain. Oxygen consumption during tethered flights by flight-selected moths ranged from 28.2 to 56.6 ml O₂g^-1h^-1.
Using these and previous data, notional energy budgets were calculated to account for flight, reproduction and resting metabolism for non-selected and flight-selected S. exempta flown on the flight balances and provided thereafter with distilled water. The results confirm the trade-off between flight and reproduction reported by Gunn et al. (1989). A similar approach using data for two non-selected strains from the field in Kenya indicated genetic variation in migratory potential, reflected both in pre-reproductive period and resources available for flight. We conclude that elevated glyceride levels are a component of the migratory syndrome in S. exempta and that this is the major factor underlying the curvilinear relationship between flight duration and fecundity obtained by Gunn et al. (1989).     

蚜虫迁飞的研究进展

蚜虫的迁飞能造成危害扩展、病毒病传播和防碍人们的正常生活。蚜虫迁飞有其生理生态基础。寄主营养、蚜群拥挤度、天敌以及气候条件是刺激有翅蚜产生的主因素。蚜虫迁飞与卵巢发育存在明显的共轭关系。蚜虫迁飞多发生在晴朗的白天 ,并且温度、光照和风是影响迁飞行为的主导因子。蚜虫可上升到逆温层并随气流迁飞到上百公里以外的地方。目前 ,昆虫雷达观察、天气学分析和分子生物学方法已应用于蚜虫迁学的研究中 ,文章对蚜虫迁飞的生理生态基础、迁飞行为、影响迁飞的生态因子以及研究方法进行了综述 ,以期为蚜虫这类小型昆虫的迁飞研究提供指导     

Simultaneous monitoring of flight and oviposition of individual velvetbean caterpillar moths (by Wales, Barfield & Leppla, 1985): a critique

ABSTRACT. Flight durations of tethered female Anticarsia gemmatalis moths recorded in the laboratory were interpreted by Wales et al. as indicating a capacity for significant inter-reproductive displacements in the field. Indications that their data may not support this conclusion are discussed and evidence is presented that, in tethered Spodoptera exempta , prolonged flights starting early in the night represent migratory behaviour while those of similar durations starting after midnight do not.     

El Niño and dry season rainfall influence hostplant phenology and an annual butterfly migration from Neotropical wet to dry forests

We censused butterflies flying across the Panama Canal at Barro Colorado Island (BCI) for 16 years and butterfly hostplants for 8 years to address the question: What environmental factors influence the timing and magnitude of migrating Aphrissa statira butterflies? The peak migration date was earlier when the wet season began earlier and when soil moisture content in the dry season preceding the migration was higher. The peak migration date was also positively associated with peak leaf flushing of one hostplant (Callichlamys latifolia) but not another (Xylophragma seemannianum). The quantity of migrants was correlated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation, which influenced April soil moisture on BCI and total rainfall in the dry season. Both hostplant species responded to El Niño with greater leaf flushing, and the number of adults deriving from or laying eggs on those new leaves was greatest during El Niño years. The year 1993 was exceptional in that the number of butterflies migrating was lower than predicted by the El Niño event, yet the dry season was unusually wet for an El Niño year as well. Thus, dry season rainfall appears to be a primary driver of larval food production and population outbreaks for A. statira. Understanding how global climate cycles and local weather influence tropical insect migrations improves the predictability of ecological effects of climate change.     

Correlated traits for migration in the Gerridae (Hemiptera, Heteroptera): a field test

Abstract. 1. The hypothesis that the migratory tendency of macropters is correlated with proportion macropterous in wing-polymorphic insects is tested by comparing the migration of macropters of three species of waterstriders (Heteroptera, Gerridae) under natural conditions.
2. Migration of marked individuals among four permanent and seventeen ephemeral water bodies was recorded between 1 April 1986 and 2 June 1987, within an area of approximately 2 km2.
3. The proportion of macropters migrating was significantly lower for G.buenoi Kirkaldy than for L.dissortis Drake and Harris and G.comatus Drake and Hottes. Similar results were obtained in. comparisons of proportions captured on ephemeral sites.
4. Distances measured in this study appear to be small relative to the migratory capacity of all of the species, and migration distance did not differ significantly among species. All species migrated primarily in early spring, and differences among species were most apparent at this time.
5. The observed differences among species combined with the results of a similar study of macropters from the primarily apterous species, G.remigis Say, support the initial hypothesis. The implications of this for our understanding of the evolution and maintenance of wing polymorphisms are discussed.     

Phylogeny and biogeography in the evolution of migration: shorebirds of the Charadrius complex

Aim We explore whether molecular phylogeny and biogeography can complement evolutionary ecology in developing a method to address a long-standing issue in the evolution of migration: have migrations between breeding and non-breeding grounds, which may be on different continents, evolved through origins in the breeding grounds with successive shifts of the non-breeding distribution or vice versa? Methods To accommodate the biology of migration, we treated breeding and non-breeding distributions as characters to be mapped onto a phylogeny derived from mitochondrial DNA sequence data and so examined the ancestral home issue as a study in the direction of character evolution. Results Our main findings from applying this approach to a subset of the Charadrius complex of shorebirds (Aves: Charadriinae) are that a case can be made for shifts of breeding distributions having occurred in the ancestries of C. alexandrinus and C. veredus as those species evolved their present migration patterns. Our results also argue for a southern hemisphere origin (specifically South America) for the Charadrius complex as a whole. A South American origin implies other shifts in breeding distributions having occurred in the evolution of the species C. semipalmatus and C. vociferus. On applying the methods we developed for dealing with phylogenetic uncertainty, these results are reinforced and the merit of testing them further is suggested. Conclusions By way of a new approach to the evolution of migration, our study adds to a consensus emerging from the evolutionary ecology of migrant birds, arguing that shifts of breeding distributions are commonly, though not necessarily exclusively, involved in the evolution of migration.     

Stopover decision during migration: physiological conditions predict nocturnal restlessness in wild passerines

During migration, a number of bird species rely on stopover sites for resting and feeding before and after crossing ecological barriers such as deserts or seas. The duration of a stopover depends on the combined effects of environmental factors, endogenous programmes and physiological conditions. Previous studies indicated that lean birds prolong their refuelling stopover compared with fat birds; however, the quantitative relationship between physiological conditions and stopover behaviour has not been studied yet. Here, we tested in a large sample of free-living birds of three European passerines (whinchats, Saxicola rubetra, garden warblers, Sylvia borin and whitethroats, Sylvia communis) whether the amount of migratory restlessness (Zugunruhe) shown at a stopover site depends on physiological conditions. An integrated measure of condition based on body mass, amount of subcutaneous fat and thickness of pectoral muscles strongly predicted the intensity of Zugunruhe shown in recording cages in the night following capture. These results provide novel and robust quantitative evidence in support of the hypothesis that the amount of energy reserves plays a major role in determining the stopover duration in migratory birds.     

Aerodynamic Interactions Between Wing and Body of a Model Insect in Forward Flight and Maneuvers

The aerodynamic interactions between the body and the wings of a model insect in forward flight and maneuvers are studied using the method of numerically solving the Navier-Stokes equations over moving overset grids. Three cases are considered, including a complete insect, wing pair only and body only. By comparing the results of these cases, the interaction effect between the body and the wing pair can be identified. The changes in the force and moment coefficients of the wing pair due to the presence of the body are less than 4.5% of the mean vertical force coefficient of the model insect; the changes in the aerodynamic force coefficients of the body due to the presence of the wings are less than 5.0% of the mean vertical force coefficient of the model insect. The results of this paper indicate that in studying the aerodynamics and flight dynamics of a flapping insect in forward flight or maneuver, separately computing (or measuring) the aerodynamic forces and moments on the wing pair and on the body could be a good approximation.     

Dynamics of animal movement in an ecological context: dragonfly wing damage reduces flight performance and predation success

Much of our understanding of the control and dynamics of animal movement derives from controlled laboratory experiments. While many aspects of animal movement can be probed only in these settings, a more complete understanding of animal locomotion may be gained by linking experiments on relatively simple motions in the laboratory to studies of more complex behaviours in natural settings. To demonstrate the utility of this approach, we examined the effects of wing damage on dragonfly flight performance in both a laboratory drop–escape response and the more natural context of aerial predation. The laboratory experiment shows that hindwing area loss reduces vertical acceleration and average flight velocity, and the predation experiment demonstrates that this type of wing damage results in a significant decline in capture success. Taken together, these results suggest that wing damage may take a serious toll on wild dragonflies, potentially reducing both reproductive success and survival.     

昆虫几丁质酶及其在植物保护中的应用

本文从生理学、生物化学和分子生物学３个方面综述了昆虫几丁质酶的研究进展,并概述了它在害虫防治、主要是在抗虫育种中作为重要的基因源中的应用。e     

区域尺度的昆虫迁飞行为与害虫间歇性猖獗

60年代以来,随着耕作制度和栽培品种的改变以及高投入丰产措施的普遍推广,我国迁飞性害虫的发生范围不断扩大,猖獗频率逐渐增加,对农业生产的威胁日益严重[1～4]。国内曾多次组织全国性大协作,研究迁飞性害虫的迁飞规律、地方发生规律和测报防治技术,虽然取得了相当的成就,但仍满足不了生产上的要求。目前尚无法以足够的精度预报迁飞性害虫的迁入期、迁入区和迁入量,对灾变的预警能力一直在低水平徘徊。其中一个主要原因就是对迁飞性害虫的消长规律尚缺乏深层次的基础研究,尤其是宏观尺度的机制研究一直相当薄弱,而这恰恰是亟待早日解决的关…     

Ancestry and evolution of seasonal migration in the Parulidae

Seasonal migration in birds is known to be highly labile and subject to rapid change in response to selection, such that researchers have hypothesized that phylogenetic relationships should neither predict nor constrain the migratory behaviour of a species. Many theories on the evolution of bird migration assume a framework that extant migratory species have evolved repeatedly and relatively recently from sedentary tropical or subtropical ancestors. We performed ancestral state reconstructions of migratory behaviour using a comprehensive, well-supported phylogeny of the Parulidae (the 'wood-warblers'), a large family of Neotropical and Nearctic migratory and sedentary songbirds, and examined the rates of gain and loss of migration throughout the Parulidae. Counter to traditional hypotheses, our results suggest that the ancestral wood-warbler was migratory and that losses of migration have been at least as prevalent as gains throughout the history of Parulidae. Therefore, extant sedentary tropical radiations in the Parulidae represent losses of latitudinal migration and colonization of the tropics from temperate regions. We also tested for phylogenetic signal in migratory behaviour, and our results indicate that although migratory behaviour is variable within some wood-warbler species and clades, phylogeny significantly predicts the migratory distance of species in the Parulidae.     

Flight capacity: genetic determination and physiological constraints in a migratory moth Mythimna separata

Abstract. Flight capacity of the oriental armyworn Mythimna separata (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) was estimated by a new tethered flight technique. Samples of a migrant population showed a substantial proportion of 'long fliers'. Heritability of flight capacity was found to be significant ( h ²= 0.27). Female moths from a line selected for long pre-reproductive period (PRP) showed greater flight capacity than those from a short PRP line. This difference was not apparent among males. Onset of calling behaviour inhibited the expression of flight capacity in females showing a clear 'oogenesis-flight syndrome'. These results are discussed in relation to seasonal migration in eastern China and the mechanisms involved in the migratory strategy of this species.     

Calling behaviour in M.convecta females under different temperature and photoperiodic conditions

Abstract. . The effects of temperature and photoperiod on calling behaviour in females of the Australian common armyworm, Mythimna corwecta (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), were studied in the laboratory. Age at first calling was greater at 15 and 20^oC compared with 25^oC, but there were no significant differences between 25 and 30^oC. Females kept at 10^oC did not call, but if transferred at 10 days to 20^oC they called after a period similar to the pre-calling period at constant 20^oC. Onset time of calling was earlier at 15 and 20^oC compared with 25 and 30^oC, but there were no significant differences in calling duration. At 20^oC, age at first calling was increased by shorter day length (12h and 14h, compared with 16h), and there was an interaction between daylength and moth age affecting the duration of calling. Onset times advanced with longer daylength, but peak calling was later in relation to the lengtii of the scotophase. These results are discussed in connection with migration in M.convecta. Evidence for a circadian rhythm of calling was found in females entrained for 3 and 8 days after emergence under reverse-cycle conditions and then transferred to constant darkness. However, after 56 h and 80 h respectively of darkness, calling became de-synchronized. Subsequently, it appeared to re-synchronize to a different clock, which approximately correlated with the normal photoperiods the moths had experienced during larval development.     

The effects of the mating system on the evolution of migration in a spatially heterogeneous population

Summary Verbal explanations for the evolution of migration and dispersal often invoke inbreeding depression as an important force. Experimental work on plant populations indicates that while inbreeding depression may favor increased migration rates, adaptation to local environments may reduce the advantage to migrants. We formalize and test this hypothesis using a two-locus genetic model that incorporates lowered fitness in offspring produced by self-fertilization, and habitat differentiation. We also use the model to address questions about the general theory of genetic modifiers and the modifier reduction principle. We find that even under conditions when migration would increase the mean fitness of a population, migration may not be favored. This result is due to the associations that develop between genotypes at a locus subject to overdominant selection and at a neutral locus controlling the migration rate. Thus, it appears that, in this model, the forces of local adaptation, which favor a reduction in the migration rate, overwhelm those of inbreeding depression, which may favor dispersal.     

Thrombospondin-1 binds to ApoER2 and VLDL receptor and functions in postnatal neuronal migration

Apolipoprotein E receptor 2 (ApoER2), very low-density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR), and Dab1 are the main components of the Reelin signalling cascade. Reelin is the sole ligand defined so far in signalling through this pathway. Postnatal migration of neuronal precursors from the subventricular zone (SVZ) to the olfactory bulb (OB), however, depends on ApoER2 and Dab1, but functions independently of Reelin. Here, we show that thrombospondin-1 (THBS-1) is a novel physiological ligand for ApoER2 and VLDLR. THBS-1 is present in the SVZ and along the entire rostral migratory stream (RMS). It binds to ApoER2 and VLDLR and induces phosphorylation of Dab1. In contrast to Reelin, it does not induce Dab1 degradation or Akt phosphorylation, but stabilizes neuronal precursor chains derived from subventricular explants. Lack of THBS-1 results in anatomical abnormalities of the RMS and leads to a reduction of postnatal neuronal precursors entering the OB.     

Transport and Utilization of Lipids in Insect Flight Muscles*

In migrating lepidopteran and orthopteran insects, lipid is the preferred fuel for sustained flight activity. Diacylglycerol is delivered by lipophorin to the flight muscle and hydrolyzed to free fatty acid and glycerol. After penetrating the plasma membrane by an unknown mechanism, fatty acids are bound by the intracellular fatty acid binding protein (FABP) and transported through the cytosol. After their conversion to acyl-CoA esters, the fatty acids enter the mitochondrial matrix via the carnitine shuttle for subsequent β-oxidation. This article reviews the current knowledge of lipid metabolism in insect flight muscle, with particular emphasis on the structure and function of FABP and its expression during locust development and flight.     

Aerial distribution, flight behaviour and eggload: their inter-relationship during dispersal by the sweetpotato whitefly

1. The aerial distribution of Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (the sweetpotato whitefly) was studied during the early ascent phase of flight, to test the degree to which dispersal patterns reflect the flight behaviour of individuals.
2. Marked whiteflies were trapped at four heights between 0 and 7·2 m above fallow ground, and at six distances between 0 and 100 m from the insect source. Insects were trapped during a 2–3 h period after the initiation of flight activity during the summers of 1995 and 1996.
3. Analysis of trap catch data revealed a clear negative exponential relationship between height and aerial distribution, and a slightly weaker negative power relationship between distance and aerial distribution. Marked insects were caught in the uppermost traps adjacent to the source, indicating that a portion of the population had a strong capacity for ascent out of the flight boundary layer.
4. Eggload decreased with the height, but not the distance, at which whiteflies were trapped. Mean eggload close to the ground was significantly greater than that for those trapped at 4·8 and 7·2 m, supporting the hypothesis that there is a trade-off between flight and oogenesis in weak-flying insects.
5. Air temperatures during the trapping periods were positively correlated with the proportion of male and female B. tabaci caught in the highest traps, but not in the most distant traps.
6. The significance of these results for accurate prediction of whitefly dispersal is discussed, and the importance of individual's behaviour in determining dispersal patterns of small insects is emphasized.     

Effects of age and mated status on flight potential of Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract The effects of ageing and female mated status on the flight potential of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), collected as larvae from a pigeonpea crop in southern India, were investigated using a tethered-flight technique. In non-mated moths fed sugar solution, from the first night after adult eclosion, the durations of both total and longest continuous flight per night increased up to night 4 and remained at this level until at least night 6. Ovarian maturation was rapid with 77% of unmated moths having commenced oviposition by the third night. On the basis of field evidence it is likely that most females would be mated by the third or fourth night, provided plants with nectar or sugary exudates were locally available. In successfully-mated females a 15-fold decrease in total flight duration and a 28-fold decrease in longest continuous flight duration was observed in contrast to non-mated females of similar age. As host plants suitable for adult feeding and oviposition were locally available during the time of feral adult emergence, synchronous pre-reproductive migration was unlikely to occur in the population studied.