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Insects
Special Issues
The Study of Insect Movement and Foraging Strategies
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The Study of Insect Movement and Foraging Strategies

A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2020) | Viewed by 20885

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xavier Martini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida - North Florida Research and Education Center, 155 Research Road, Quincy, FL 32351, USA
Interests: insect movement and dispersal; chemical ecology; IPM
Prof. Dr. Alberto Fereres

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, ICA-CSIC, 28006 Madrid, Spain
Interests: plant–virus interaction; climate change; virus–aphid interaction; plant pathology; entomology; transmission; vector biology; management; epidemiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Jean-Louis Hemptinne

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Laboratoire Évolution and Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174), Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS, Toulouse, France
Interests: prey-predator interaction; chemical ecology; behavioural ecology; biological control; ladybird beetles; Homoptera

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Better understanding of insect movement is of critical importance for the study of insect ecology, IPM, and the impacts of climate change on invertebrate communities. Insect movement is associated with essential life history traits such as host selection, feeding, or oviposition. Invertebrates often have low levels of investment per offspring, and therefore a female finding an adequate egg-laying site often represents the major investment in terms of energy. For insects, movement represents a trade-off between the risks of death, excessive energy consumption, and not finding a new breeding/feeding site, and the rewards of finding a site more favorable for feeding and reproduction than the previous one. Insect movement can be divided between inter-patch movement for short distances and long-distance dispersal. The migration of the monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) from central Mexico to southern Canada is probably one of the most striking examples.

This Special Issue will cover the study of both inter-patch movement and long-distance dispersal as well as the effects of biotic and abiotic factors influencing insect movement, the physiology of flight, foraging strategies, and the use of visual and chemical cues during flight and host selection. We will accept regular research articles as well as review articles and method articles describing novel approaches to studying insect movement. Articles could be purely academic or with a direct applied focus as long as the study of insect movement is the core of the article.

Dr. Xavier Martini
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Foraging strategies
  • Dispersal ecology
  • Flight physiology
  • Flight mill
  • Wind tunnel

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 1700 KiB  
Article
Path Meander of Male Codling Moths (Cydia pomonella) Foraging for Sex Pheromone Plumes: Field Validation of a Novel Method for Quantifying Path Meander of Random Movers Developed Using Computer Simulations
by Christopher Adams, Jeffrey Schenker, Paul Weston, Lawrence Gut and James Miller
Insects 2020, 11(9), 549; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11090549 - 19 Aug 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2281
Abstract
Measures of path meander are highly relevant to studies of optimal foraging by animals. However, directly recording paths of small animals such as insects can be difficult because of small size or crepuscular activity. Computer simulations of correlated random walkers demonstrated that the [...] Read more.
Measures of path meander are highly relevant to studies of optimal foraging by animals. However, directly recording paths of small animals such as insects can be difficult because of small size or crepuscular activity. Computer simulations of correlated random walkers demonstrated that the rates of decay in captures across a rectangular grid of traps when movers were released at its corner can be used to produce calibration curves for quantifying path meander indirectly. Simulations using spatial parameters matching those previously documented for male codling moths (Cydia pomonella (L.)) foraging for female pheromone plumes in the field predicted that meander, as measured in circular standard deviation (c.s.d.) of turn angles between track segments, should be ca. 50° and 30° when the target population density is high vs. low, respectively. Thus, if optimized, the mean value measured for C. pomonella populations encountering an unknown target density should fall between these limits. We recorded decay in C. pomonella catch across a 5 × 5 grid of pheromone-baited traps each separated by 15 m on 39 occasions where batches of ca. 800 males were released 10 m outside the corner of trapping grids arranged in five large Michigan apple orchards. This decay constant was translated into mean c.s.d value for path meander using the standard curve generated by the computer simulations. The measured decay constant for C. pomonella males was negative 0.99 ± 0.02 (S.E.M.), which translates to a path meander of 37 ± 2° c.s.d. Thus, the measured path meander of 37° fell between the 50° and 30° values optimal for dense and sparse populations, respectively. In addition to providing a rare documented example of optimal foraging for odor plumes, this research offers proof-of-concept for a novel approach to quantifying path meander of movers that could prove useful across diverse taxa. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Study of Insect Movement and Foraging Strategies)
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20 pages, 2906 KiB  
Article
Marking Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) with Fluorescent Dusts
by Rik Clymans, Vincent Van Kerckvoorde, Tim Beliën, Dany Bylemans and Patrick De Clercq
Insects 2020, 11(3), 152; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11030152 - 01 Mar 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3984
Abstract
The marking of Drosophila suzukii can be an important instrument for studying the ecology and behaviour of this economically important fruit pest, aiding the development of new Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools or strategies. There is, however, a need for a cost-effective methodology [...] Read more.
The marking of Drosophila suzukii can be an important instrument for studying the ecology and behaviour of this economically important fruit pest, aiding the development of new Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools or strategies. There is, however, a need for a cost-effective methodology that provides an easily detectable and stable mark. Whereas fluorescent pigment powders are often used in entomological research, the pigments (series, dyes), application techniques, or doses need to be evaluated for each studied species in terms of their efficacy and possible adverse effects on the performance of the insect. The effectiveness of different application techniques and dyes (RadGlo® TP-series) and their effect on the survival of adult D. suzukii were investigated in the laboratory. Furthermore, the influence of the marking on the behaviour of the flies was examined in laboratory trap assays (olfaction) and a field recapture study (general orientation). The persistence and detectability of the marks was evaluated both on living flies (for different application techniques) and dead flies under trapping/storage conditions. The use of fluorescent powders to mark D. suzukii flies yielded a clearly detectable and highly persistent mark, without any adverse effects on the survival and behaviour of the flies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Study of Insect Movement and Foraging Strategies)
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10 pages, 1171 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Visual and Olfactory Cues in Host Selection for Bemisia tabaci Biotype B in the Presence or Absence of Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus
by Nicholas Johnston and Xavier Martini
Insects 2020, 11(2), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11020115 - 11 Feb 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 3104
Abstract
The silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, is one of the most destructive agricultural pests in the world, vectoring a large number of devastating viruses, including Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV). When selecting a host, B. tabaci is primarily influenced by a range [...] Read more.
The silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, is one of the most destructive agricultural pests in the world, vectoring a large number of devastating viruses, including Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV). When selecting a host, B. tabaci is primarily influenced by a range of visual and olfactory cues. Therefore, elucidating how such cues become modified in the presence of whitefly-vectored begomoviruses is critical to better understanding the epidemiology of many economically important diseases. The goal of this study was to determine how both visual and odor cues interact in the presence of TYLCV. In Y-tube olfactometer assays, whiteflies were submitted to a range of isolated visual and olfactory cues to determine behavioral changes. B. tabaci choices were then compared to both stimuli combined in the presence or absence of TYLCV. Under visual stimuli only, B. tabaci exhibited a visual attraction to the color yellow, TYLCV-infected tomato leaves, and TYLCV-infected tomato volatiles. Attraction was the strongest overall when both visual and olfactory cues from TYLCV-symptomatic tomato plants were combined, as opposed to a single isolated cue. These results highlight the importance of both sensory stimuli during B. tabaci host selection in the presence of an associated begomovirus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Study of Insect Movement and Foraging Strategies)
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9 pages, 2949 KiB  
Article
Comparative Quantification of Trail-Following Behavior in Pest Ants
by Ricardo J. Vázquez, Philip G. Koehler and Roberto M. Pereira
Insects 2020, 11(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11010005 - 19 Dec 2019
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1873
Abstract
A comparison of trail-following movement parameters of six major urban pest ants, Nylanderia fulva (Forel) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Pheidole megacephala, Linepithema humile (Mayr), Solenopsis invicta Buren, Paratrechina longicornis (Forel), and Technomyrmex albipes (Smith) demonstrated several differences in velocity of movement, amplitude of the [...] Read more.
A comparison of trail-following movement parameters of six major urban pest ants, Nylanderia fulva (Forel) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Pheidole megacephala, Linepithema humile (Mayr), Solenopsis invicta Buren, Paratrechina longicornis (Forel), and Technomyrmex albipes (Smith) demonstrated several differences in velocity of movement, amplitude of the deviations from a marked trail, percent fidelity to the trail, number of curves per unit of trail, and trail-following accuracy. Paratrechina longicornis and N. fulva had the largest deviations from the marked trails and moved three times faster (25–30 mm/s) along the trail than the slowest ant, S. invicta (< 10 mm/s), with other ants following between these extremes. Species differences in relation to going toward or returning from food were observed in a few cases, especially with Pa. longicornis for which velocity, amplitude, and trail fidelity differed between the foraging and return trails. Quantification of ant trail-following movement parameters can be useful in understanding the mechanics of ant movement and may be important in testing specific strategies and products that disrupt trail-following behavior. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Study of Insect Movement and Foraging Strategies)
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Review

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26 pages, 561 KiB  
Review
A Review of the Phenotypic Traits Associated with Insect Dispersal Polymorphism, and Experimental Designs for Sorting out Resident and Disperser Phenotypes
by David Renault
Insects 2020, 11(4), 214; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11040214 - 30 Mar 2020
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4708
Abstract
Dispersal represents a key life-history trait with several implications for the fitness of organisms, population dynamics and resilience, local adaptation, meta-population dynamics, range shifting, and biological invasions. Plastic and evolutionary changes of dispersal traits have been intensively studied over the past decades in [...] Read more.
Dispersal represents a key life-history trait with several implications for the fitness of organisms, population dynamics and resilience, local adaptation, meta-population dynamics, range shifting, and biological invasions. Plastic and evolutionary changes of dispersal traits have been intensively studied over the past decades in entomology, in particular in wing-dimorphic insects for which literature reviews are available. Importantly, dispersal polymorphism also exists in wing-monomorphic and wingless insects, and except for butterflies, fewer syntheses are available. In this perspective, by integrating the very latest research in the fast moving field of insect dispersal ecology, this review article provides an overview of our current knowledge of dispersal polymorphism in insects. In a first part, some of the most often used experimental methodologies for the separation of dispersers and residents in wing-monomorphic and wingless insects are presented. Then, the existing knowledge on the morphological and life-history trait differences between resident and disperser phenotypes is synthetized. In a last part, the effects of range expansion on dispersal traits and performance is examined, in particular for insects from range edges and invasion fronts. Finally, some research perspectives are proposed in the last part of the review. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Study of Insect Movement and Foraging Strategies)

Other

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13 pages, 624 KiB  
Perspective
Proximate Drivers of Migration and Dispersal in Wing-Monomorphic Insects
by Mark K. Asplen
Insects 2020, 11(1), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11010061 - 18 Jan 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3552
Abstract
Gains in our knowledge of dispersal and migration in insects have been largely limited to either wing-dimorphic species or current genetic model systems. Species belonging to these categories, however, represent only a tiny fraction of insect biodiversity, potentially making generalization problematic. In this [...] Read more.
Gains in our knowledge of dispersal and migration in insects have been largely limited to either wing-dimorphic species or current genetic model systems. Species belonging to these categories, however, represent only a tiny fraction of insect biodiversity, potentially making generalization problematic. In this perspective, I present three topics in which current and future research may lead to greater knowledge of these processes in wing-monomorphic insects with limited existing molecular tools. First, threshold genetic models are reviewed as testable hypotheses for the heritability of migratory traits, using the sweet potato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) as a case study of a behaviorally-polymorphic migratory species lacking morphological or physiological differentiation. In addition, both adaptive and non-adaptive explanations for the empirically variable relationship between egg production and flight in wing-monomorphic insects are discussed. Finally, with respect to the largest order of insects (Hymenoptera), the role of sex determination mechanisms for haplodiploidy as a driver for natal dispersal (for inbreeding avoidance) versus philopatry (such as in local mate competition) is discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Study of Insect Movement and Foraging Strategies)
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