Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-swr86 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-18T19:03:45.463Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An aerial netting study of insects migrating at high altitude over England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

J.W. Chapman ,
D.R. Reynolds ,
A.D. Smith ,
E.T. Smith  and
I.P. Woiwod
J.W. Chapman*
Affiliation:
Rothamsted Radar Entomology Unit, Plant and Invertebrate Ecology Division, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2JQ, UK
D.R. Reynolds
Affiliation:
Plant, Animal and Human Health Group, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Central Avenue, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4TB, UK
A.D. Smith
Affiliation:
Rothamsted Radar Entomology Unit, Plant and Invertebrate Ecology Division, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2JQ, UK
E.T. Smith
Affiliation:
Rothamsted Radar Entomology Unit, Plant and Invertebrate Ecology Division, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2JQ, UK
I.P. Woiwod
Affiliation:
Rothamsted Radar Entomology Unit, Plant and Invertebrate Ecology Division, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2JQ, UK
*
*Fax: 01582 760981 E-mail: Jason.chapman@bbsrc.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Day and night sampling of windborne arthropods at a height of 200 m above ground was undertaken at Cardington, Bedfordshire, UK, during July 1999, 2000 and 2002, using a net supported by a tethered balloon. The results from this study are compared with those from the classic aerial sampling programmes carried out by Hardy, Freeman and colleagues over the UK and North Sea in the 1930s. In the present study, aerial netting was undertaken at night as well as daytime, and so the diel periodicity of migration could be investigated, and comparisons made with the results from Lewis and Taylor’s extensive survey of flight periodicity near ground level. In some taxa with day-time emigration, quite large populations could continue in high-altitude flight after dark, perhaps to a previously underrated extent, and this would greatly increase their potential migratory range. Any trend towards increases in night temperatures, associated with global warming, would facilitate movements of this type in the UK. Observations on the windborne migration of a variety of species, particularly those of economic significance or of radar-detectable size, are briefly discussed.

Type
Review Article
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 94 , Issue 2 , April 2004 , pp. 123 - 136
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ashmole, N.P. & Ashmole, M.J. (1988) Insect dispersal on Tenerife, Canary Islands: high altitude fallout and seaward drift. Arctic and Alpine Research 20, 1–12.Google Scholar
Berry, R.E. & Taylor, L.R. (1968) High altitude migration of aphids in maritime and continental climates. Journal of Animal Ecology 37, 713–722.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowden, J. & Johnson, C.G. (1976) Migrating and other terrestrial insects at sea. pp. 97–117in Cheng, L. (Ed.) Marine insects. Amsterdam, North-Holland Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Carr, R. (1989) Dytiscid (Coleoptera) life-cycle strategies in a seasonal pond in south-eastern England. Entomologist's Gazette 40, 315–321.Google Scholar
Chapman, J.W., Reynolds, D.R., Smith, A.D., Riley, J.R., Pedgley, D.E. & Woiwod, I.P. (2002) High-altitude migration of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, to the UK: a study using radar, aerial netting and ground trapping. Ecological Entomology 27, 641–650.Google Scholar
Chapman, J.W., Reynolds, D.R. & Smith, A.D. (2003) Vertical-looking radar: a new tool for monitoring high-altitude insect migration. Bioscience 53, 503–511.Google Scholar
Chapman, J.W., Reynolds, D.R. & Smith, A.D. (2004) Migratory and foraging movements in beneflcial insects: a review of radar monitoring and tracking methods. International Journal of Pest Management (in press).Google Scholar
Denno, R.F. & Perfect, T.J. (1994) (Eds) Planthoppers: their ecology and management. New York, Chapman and Hall.Google Scholar
Denno, R.F., Gratton, C. & Langellotto, G.A. (2001) Significance of habitat persistence and dimensionality in the evolution of insect migration strategies. pp. 235–259in Woiwod, I.P., Reynolds, D.R. & Thomas, C.D. (Eds) Insect movement: mechanisms and consequences. Wallingford, Oxon, CABI Publishing.Google Scholar
Dingle, H. (1996) Migration: the biology of life on the move. Oxford, Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dingle, H. (2001) The evolution of migratory syndromes in insects. pp. 159–181in Woiwod, I.P., Reynolds, D.R. & Thomas, C.D. (Eds) Insect movement: mechanisms and consequences. Wallingford, Oxon, CABI Publishing.Google Scholar
Disney, R.H.L. & Chapman, J.W. (2001) A scuttle fly (Diptera: Phoridae) new to Britain caught in a net suspended 200 metres above the ground. British Journal of Entomology and Natural History 14, 39–43.Google Scholar
Drake, V.A. & Farrow, R.A. (1985) A radar and aerial-trapping study of an early spring migration of moths (Lepidoptera) in inland New South Wales. Australian Journal of Ecology 10, 223–235.Google Scholar
Drake, V.A. & Farrow, R.A. (1988) The influence of atmospheric structure and motions on insect migration. Annual Review of Entomology 33, 183–210.Google Scholar
Drake, V.A. & Gatehouse, A.G. (Eds) (1995) Insect migration: tracking resources through space and time. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Drake, V.A., Gregg, P.C., Harman, I.T., Wang, H.K., Deveson, E.D., Hunter, D.M. & Rochester, W.A. (2001) Characterizing insect migration systems in inland Australia with novel and traditional methodologies. pp. 207–233in Woiwod, I.P., Reynolds, D.R. & Thomas, C.D. (Eds) Insect movement: mechanisms and consequences. Wallingford, Oxon, CABI Publishing.Google Scholar
Farrow, R.A. & Dowse, J.E. (1984) Method of using kites to carry tow nets in the upper air for sampling migratory insects and its application to radar entomology. Bulletin of Entomological Research 74, 87–95.Google Scholar
Freeman, J.A. (1945) Studies in the distribution of insects by aerial currents. The insect population of the air from ground level to 300 feet. Journal of Animal Ecology 14, 128–154.Google Scholar
French, R.A. & White, J.H. (1960) The diamond-back moth outbreak of 1958. Plant Pathology 9, 77–84.Google Scholar
Gardiner, T. & Hill, J. (2003) Are there any grasshoppers on farmland? Antenna 27, 115–116.Google Scholar
Gatehouse, A.G. (1997) Behavior and ecological genetics of wind-borne migration by insects. Annual Review of Entomology 42, 475–502.Google Scholar
Glick, P.A. (1939) The distribution of insects, spiders and mites in the air. Technical Bulletin of the United States Department of Agriculture No. 673.Google Scholar
Greenstone, M.H., Eaton, R.R. & Morgan, C.E. (1991) Sampling aerially dispersing arthropods: a high-volume, inexpensive, automobile- and aircraft-borne system. Journal of Economic Entomology 84, 1717–1724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haes, E.C.M. & Harding, P.T. (1997) Atlas of grasshoppers, crickets and allied insects in Britain and Ireland. London, The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Hanski, I. & Gilpin, M. (1991) Metapopulation dynamics: brief history and conceptual domain. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 42, 3–16.Google Scholar
Hardy, A.C. & Cheng, L. (1986) Studies in the distribution of insects by aerial currents. III. Insect drift over the sea. Ecological Entomology 11, 283–290.Google Scholar
Hardy, A.C. & Milne, P.S. (1937) Insect drift over the North Sea, 1936. Nature 139, 510.Google Scholar
Hardy, A.C. & Milne, P.S. (1938) Studies in the distribution of insects by aerial currents. Experiments in aerial tow-netting from kites. Journal of Animal Ecology 7, 199–229.Google Scholar
Holzapfel, E.P. & Harrell, J.C. (1968) Transoceanic dispersal studies of insects. Pacific Insects 10, 115–153.Google Scholar
Houghton, J.T., Ding, Y., Griggs, D.J., Noguer, M., van der Linden, P.J., Dai, X., Maskell, K. & Johnson, C.A. (Eds) (2001) Climate change 2001: the scientific basis. New York, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Howard, R.A. (1999) Possible migration of Noctua pronuba (L.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) at Lizard Point, Cornwall. Entomologist's Gazette 50, 33–38.Google Scholar
Isard, S.A., Irwin, M.E. & Hollinger, S.E. (1990) Vertical distribution of aphids (Homoptera: Aphididae) in the planetary boundary layer. Environmental Entomology 19, 1473–1484.Google Scholar
Jackson, D. (1952) Observations on the capacity for flight of water beetles. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London (A) 27, 57–70.Google Scholar
Johnson, C.G. (1951) The study of wind-borne insect populations in relation to terrestrial ecology, flight periodicity and the estimation of aerial populations. Science Progress 153, 41–62.Google Scholar
Johnson, C.G. (1969) Migration and dispersal of insects by flight. London, Methuen.Google Scholar
Johnson, C.G., Taylor, L.R. & Southwood, T.R.E. (1962) High altitude migration of Oscinella frit L. (Diptera: Chloropidae). Journal of Animal Ecology 31, 373–383.Google Scholar
Kenward, H.K. (1984) Mass migration of Meligethes aeneus (Fabricius) (Col., Nitidulidae) at Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 120, 236.Google Scholar
Lewis, T. & Taylor, L.R. (1964) Diurnal periodicity of flight by insects. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 116, 393–479.Google Scholar
Mallet, J. (2001) Gene flow. pp. 337–360in Woiwod, I.P., Reynolds, D.R. & Thomas, C.D. (Eds) Insect movement: mechanisms and consequences. Wallingford, Oxon, CABI Publishing.Google Scholar
Marshall, J.A. & Haes, E.C.M. (1988) Grasshoppers and allied insects of Great Britain and Ireland. Colchester, Essex, Harley Books.Google Scholar
Mauchline, A.L. (2003) Behavioural and chemical ecology of Meligethes aeneus: effects of non-host plant volatiles. PhD thesis, The Open University, UK.Google Scholar
Osborne, J.L., Loxdale, H.D. & Woiwod, I.P. (2002) Monitoring insect dispersal: methods and approaches. pp. 24–49in Bullock, J.M., Kenward, R.E. & Hails, R.S. (Eds) Dispersal ecology. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Parmesan, C. (2001) Coping with modern times? Insect movement and climate change. pp. 387–413in Woiwod, I.P., Reynolds, D.R. & Thomas, C.D.(Eds) Insect movement: mechanisms and consequences. Wallingford, Oxon, CABI Publishing.Google Scholar
Pedgley, D.E. (1993) Managing migratory insects pests–a review. International Journal of Pest Management 39, 3–12.Google Scholar
Reynolds, D.R. & Riley, J.R. (1988) A migration of grasshoppers, particularly Diabolocatantops axillaries (Thunberg) (Orthoptera: Acrididae), in the West African Sahel. Bulletin of Entomological Research 78, 251–271.Google Scholar
Reynolds, D.R., Riley, J.R., Armes, N.J., Cooter, R.J., Tucker, M.R. & Colvin, J. (1997) Quantifying insect migration. pp. 111–145in Dent, D.R. & Walton, M.P. (Eds) Methods in ecological and agricultural entomology. Wallingford, Oxon, CAB International.Google Scholar
Reynolds, D.R., Mukhopadhyay, S., Riley, J.R., Das, B.K., Nath, P.S. & Mandal, S.K. (1999) Seasonal variation in the windborne movement of insect pests over northeast India. International Journal of Pest Management 45, 195–205.Google Scholar
Richards, O.W. & Waloff, N. (1954) Studies on the biology and population dynamics of British grasshoppers. Anti-Locust Bulletin 17, 1–182.Google Scholar
Riley, J.R., Cheng, X.N., Zhang, X.X., Reynolds, D.R., Xu, G.M., Smith, A.D., Cheng, J.Y., Bao, A.D. & Zhai, B.P. (1991) The long distance migration of Nilaparvata lugens (Stal) (Delphacidae) in China: radar observations of mass return flight in the autumn. Ecological Entomology 16, 471–489.Google Scholar
Riley, J.R., Reynolds, D.R., Smith, A.D., Rosenberg, L.J., Cheng, X.N., Zhang, X.X., Xu, G.M., Cheng, J.Y., Bao, A.D., Zhai, B.P. & Wang, H.K. (1994) Observations on the autumn migration of Nilaparvata lugens (Homoptera: Delphacidae) and other pests in east central China. Bulletin of Entomological Research 84, 389–402.Google Scholar
Riley, J.R., Reynolds, D.R., Mukhopadhyay, S., Ghosh, M.R. & Sarkar, T.K. (1995a) Long-distance migration of aphids and other small insects in northeast India. European Journal of Entomology 92, 639–653.Google Scholar
Riley, J.R., Reynolds, D.R., Smith, A.D., Edwards, A.S., Zhang, X.X., Cheng, X.N., Wang, H.K., Cheng, J.Y. & Zhai, B.P. (1995b) Observations of the autumn migration of the rice leaf roller Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and other moths in eastern China. Bulletin of Entomological Research 85, 397–414.Google Scholar
Salmon, M.A. & Chapman, J.W. (2000) On the history and distribution of Athysanus argentarius Metcalf (Hem. Cicadellidae) in Britain. British Journal of Entomology and Natural History 13, 91–93.Google Scholar
Schaefer, G.W. (1976) Radar observations of insect flight. pp. 157–197in Rainey, R.C. (Ed.) Insect flight. Symposia of the Royal Entomological Society no. 7. Oxford, Blackwell.Google Scholar
Smith, A.D., Reynolds, D.R. & Riley, J.R. (2000) The use of vertical-looking radar to continuously monitor the insect fauna flying at altitude over southern England. Bulletin of Entomological Research 90, 265–277.Google Scholar
Southwood, T.R.E. (1962) Migration of terrestrial arthropods in relation to habitat. Biological Reviews 37, 171–214.Google Scholar
Taylor, L.R. (1974) Insect migration, flight periodicity and the boundary layer. Journal of Animal Ecology 43, 225–238.Google Scholar
Taylor, L.R. (1986) The distribution of virus disease and the migrant vector aphid. pp. 35–57in McLean, G.D., Garrett, R.G. & Ruesink, W.G. (Eds) Plant virus epidemics: monitoring, modelling and predicting outbreaks. Sydney, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Taylor, L.R. & Carter, C.I. (1961) The analysis of numbers and distribution in an aerial population of Macrolepidoptera. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 113, 369–386.Google Scholar
Taylor, L.R., Woiwod, I.P., Tatchell, G.M., Dupuch, M.J. & Nicklen, J. (1982) Synoptic monitoring for migrant insect pests in Great Britain and Western Europe III. The seasonal distribution of pest aphids and the annual aphid aerofauna over Great Britain 1975–80. Rothamsted Experimental Station Report for 1981, Part 2, 23–121.Google Scholar
Uvarov, B.P. (1977) Grasshoppers and locusts: a handbook of general acridology. Volume 2. London, Centre for Overseas Pest Research.Google Scholar
Wilson, R.J. & Thomas, C.D. (2002) Dispersal and the spatial dynamics of butterfly populations. pp. 257–278in Bullock, J.M., Kenward, R.E. & Hails, R.S. (Eds) Dispersal ecology. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Wolf, W.W., Sparks, A.N., Pair, S.D., Westbrook, J.K. & Truesdale, F.M. (1986) Radar observations and collections of insects in the Gulf of Mexico. pp. 221–234in Danthanarayana, W. (Ed.) Insect flight: dispersal and migration. Berlin, Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Woiwod, I.P. & Harrington, R. (1994) Flying in the face of change: the Rothamsted Insect Survey. pp. 321–342in Leigh, R.A. & Johnson, A.E. (Eds) Long-term experiments in agricultural and ecological sciences. Wallingford, Oxon, CAB International.Google Scholar
Woiwod, I.P., Reynolds, D.R. & Thomas, C.D. (2001) Introduction and overview. pp. 1–18in Woiwod, I.P., Reynolds, D.R. & Thomas, C.D. (Eds) Insect movement: mechanisms and consequences. Wallingford, Oxon, CABI Publishing.Google Scholar