A Study of the Flight of the Douglas-fir Beetle Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopk. (Coleoptera: Scolytidae): III Flight Capacity

Abstract

The flight capacity (duration and velocity) is an important phase of the flight behaviour of economically significant insects such as the Douglas-fir beetle, because it influences the feasibility of control or preventive measures which might be considered. An understanding of the flight capacity and how it varies in relation to environmental factors is necessary to evaluate the beetles' power of dispersal under different seasonal conditions. This would help to detect new areas of infestation by directing or narrowing the search. It also would help evaluation of the hazard at hand in timber surrounding the infestation and be a further aid in determining the size of areas of sanitation required around the comparatively beetle-free areas needed for special purposes, such as parks.

Distribution of saproxylic beetles in a recently burnt landscape of the northern boreal forest of Québec

“…Several are known to be attracted by smoke (Frost, 1984), infrared (Schmitz et al, 2002) or volatile organic compounds released by freshly firekilled trees or use kairomones emitted by their prey (Allison et al, 2004) sometimes at great distances (Franklin et al, 2000;Turchin and Thoeny, 1993). For example, experimental studies in flight mills revealed that many of these species are capable of flying up to several tens of kilometres (Atkins, 1961;Jactel and Gaillard, 1991). This differs from late successional saproxylics which colonize more stable habitats such as old-growth forests and therefore have limited dispersal capacities (Jonsson, 2002).…”

Long-distance dispersal and recolonization of a fire-destroyed niche by a mite-associated fungus

“…Flight mill studies on bark beetles have shown that most beetles achieve at least an hour of uninterrupted flight (Atkins, 1961;Forsse & Solbreck, 1985) and can reach a speed of two metres/second in still air (Byers, 1996). Mark-recapture studies with the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimm., showed that a third of the released individuals dispersed more than one kilometre, leading the authors to conclude that "beetles are capable of dispersing quite far" (Turchin & Thoeny, 1993).…”

Dispersal and flight behaviour of lps sexdentatus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in pine forest

“…For Trypodendron lineatum, the proportion of non-flyers can vary from 14% (Salom and McLean, 1989) to 43% (Shore and McLean, 1988). Schmitz (1979) (Shore and McLean, 1988), and lps typographus from 20-60 km (Nilssen, 1984;Forsse and Solbreck, 1985 (Atkins, 1961;Gara, 1963;Jactel, 1991 (Schmid, 1970) Graham (1959) observed that the response behavior of Try-podendron lineatum is at first phototactic and later chemotropic only after a certain flight duration. This phenomenon was observed for many other bark beetles such as Dendroctonus pseudotsugae (Atkins, 1966;Benett and Borden, 1971), Tomicus piniperda (Perttunen et al, 1970), Scolytus multistriatus (Choudury and Kennedy, 1980), Dendroctonus frontalis (Andryszak et al, 1982) and lps typographus (Gries, 1985;Schlyter et al, 1987).…”