Sirex noctilo flight: Patterns in vertical distribution

MARTINEZ, A; VILLACIDE, JM; FERNANDEZ AJO, AA; CORLEY, JC

Salt Lake City

Congreso; IUFRO 2014; 2014

IUFRO

Many insects search for food and oviposition substrates through flight. Understanding a species vertical flight distribution is important form a behavioral viewpoint and from an applied perspective. For example, this type of information could guide optimal trap placement heights in monitoring programs in addition to patterns that could be used in tailoring specific control strategies. The woodwasp Sirex noctilio is an invasive insect constituting a major threat to pine forests throughout the world. We studied the vertical flight behavior of males and females through unbaited sticky traps placed in three pine plantations in Patagonia, Argentina. Data indicates clear behavioral differences between males and females: fewer males were captured at higher altitudes (males n=10, median= 410 m, 25% quartile= 307.5 and 75% quartile= 482.5; females n=184, median= 250 m, 25% quartile= 150 and 75% quartile= 350), indicating a higher and vertical flight trajectory (i.e. upwards) for males. Additionally, data suggests that females are attracted to traps containing males, with five times more females found in males-containing traps than in male-free traps (χ2 =14.2, P