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Study of the flying ability of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae) adults using a computer-monitored flight mill

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2014

J.A. Ávalos ,
A. Martí-Campoy  and
A. Soto
J.A. Ávalos
Affiliation:
Instituto Agroforestal Mediterráneo (IAM), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain
A. Martí-Campoy
Affiliation:
Departamento de Informática de Sistemas y Computadores (DISCA), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain
A. Soto*
Affiliation:
Instituto Agroforestal Mediterráneo (IAM), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain
*
*Author for correspondence Phone: (+34) 963 879 252 Fax: (+34) 963 877 331 E-mail: asoto@eaf.upv.es
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Abstract

The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae), native to tropical Asian regions, has become a serious threat to palm trees all over the world. Knowledge of its flight potential is vital to improving the preventive and curative measures currently used to manage this pest. As R. ferrugineus is a quarantine pest, it is difficult to study its flight potential in the field. A computer-monitored flight mill was adapted to analyse the flying ability of R. ferrugineus through the study of different flight parameters (number of flights, total distance flown, longest single flight, flight duration, and average and maximum speed) and the influence of the weevil's sex, age, and body size on these flight parameters. Despite significant differences in the adult body size (body weight and length) of males and females, the sex of R. ferrugineus adults did not have an influence on their flight potential. Neither adult body size nor age was found to affect the weevil's flying abilities, although there was a significantly higher percentage of individuals flying that were 8–23 days old than 1–7 days old. Compared to the longest single flight, 54% of the insects were classified as short-distance flyers (covering <100 m) and 36 and 10% were classified as medium- (100–5000 m) and long-distance (>5000 m), respectively. The results are compared with similar studies on different insect species under laboratory and field conditions.

Keywords

Red palm weevilflight potentialtethereddispersalbehaviourArecaceae
Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 104 , Issue 4 , August 2014 , pp. 462 - 470
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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