Influence of pheromone concentration and ambient temperature on flight of the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L), in a sustained-flight wind tunnel

Abstract. The effects of pheromone concentration and ambient temperature on male gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera), flight responses to pheromone were investigated in a wind tunnel. As the pheromone dose increased from 10 ng to 1000 ng, males flew at progressively slower airspeeds and ground speeds, and reduced their wingbeat frequencies. Furthermore, the moths steered significantly smaller course angles as the pheromone concentration increased, indicating that they were adopting a more upwind heading. The overall width of the flight tracks also decreased when males flew in more concentrated pheromone plumes. Estimation of plume dimensions using a male wing-fanning assay showed that as pheromone dosage increased, the resultant active spaces became wider, indicating that an inverse relationship existed between the dimensions of the time-averaged plume and the width of track reversals and that most turns were initiated within the plume. When males were flown at cool (20°C) and warm (26°C) ambient temperatures but to equivalent pheromone emission rates, they exhibited higher airspeeds and ground speeds at the higher temperature but steered larger course angles. Track widths, and length of track legs were, however, similar at the two temperatures. The mean turning frequency was nearly the same (c. 4 turns/s) across all the concentrations and temperatures tested even though the moths' thoracic temperature differed by 5°C when the ambient temperature was varied.     

The effect of sewage effluent on Grasmere (English Lake District) with particular reference to inorganic nitrogen transformations

SUMMARY. In the summer of 1971 the village of Grasmere was converted from septic tank to mains drainage with sewage treatment at an activated sludge plant. The effluent was discharged into the River Rothay, the main inflow of a nearby small lake (Grasmere). This paper describes some of the effects on the lake. The mean areal hypolimnetic oxygen deficit increased from 274 to 434 mg O₂ m⁻² day⁻¹ with an accompanying marked increase in the degree of deoxygenation in the hypolimnion. Plate counts of bacteria in the surface water increased for 2 years but this increase was not sustained. The mean summer soluble reactive phosphorus concentration did, however, increase significantly ( P = 0.05), but the same was not true of nitrate levels. This paper is particularly concerned with inorganic nitrogen transformations and analyses of the main inflow have shown that 50–98% of the ammonia and 10–40% of the nilrate entering in this river was derived from the sewage effluent. The concentrations in the main body of the lake were usually lower, possibly due to assimilation and denitrification in the shallower reaches of the lake. Seasonal changes in the inorganic nitrogen species in the hypolimnion showed three distinct phases of activity, ammonification, nitrification and denitrification. Nitrification accounted for approximately a quarter of the oxygen uptake in the hypolimnion.