Sirex noctilio flight behavior: toward improving current monitoring techniques

Abstract

Sirex noctilio Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Siricidae), an invasive woodwasp from Spain and North Africa, has an expanding global presence in pine forests. Although their populations are managed in most parts of the world, the success rate of existing prevention and control strategies has been historically variable, and there is consensus that monitoring techniques could be improved with increased knowledge about the behavioral biology of this insect. We conducted descriptive field studies in pine plantations in northern Patagonia to establish the flight behavior of S. noctilio. Specifically, the aim was to characterize male and female vertical flight distributions to assess ideal trap placement in pest monitoring programs. Our results indicated that males fly higher than females. A post-hoc analysis revealed two distinct flight patterns of females; when males are present, females fly higher than when males are absent. This behavioral variance is likely linked to (1) oviposition substrate location and (2) mate location. Results suggest that the most effective trapping and monitoring strategies for females should be deployed at 1.8 m height, whereas monitoring of males or females that are searching for mates would occur at greater heights. Results also suggest that if future techniques involving pheromones are developed, trap placement should be reassessed.

Female bias in an immigratory population of Cnaphalocrocis medinalis moths based on field surveys and laboratory tests

“…Our study of the take-off behaviour of C. medinalis showed that the take-off percentage of young female moths was higher than that of young male moths and that female moths were more likely to take off than male moths, which may indicate more frequent emigration behaviour of female moths than male moths. In addition, because females need to find food and oviposition sites, they usually have strong flight capabilities 42 . Our results indicated that in C. medinalis , females have stronger flight capability than males; this pattern is common among other insects, such as Lygus lineolaris 43 , Tetraopes tetrophthalmus 44 , Culex pipiens pallens 45 and Mamestra brassicae 46 .…”

Behavioural response of the woodwasp Sirex noctilio to volatile emissions of its fungal symbiont

“…α and β pinenes in a ratio of 70 : 30, respectively) are used to sample and monitor female wasp populations in affected areas (Bashford ; Martínez et al. ). Regardless of these findings, to date the most commonly used way to monitor wasp populations when in low densities is the use of girdled or herbicide‐treated pines as a lure, which are costly and logistically difficult to implement (Zylstra et al.…”

Studies on the Harm, Flight Ability and Host Selection of <i>Sirex noctilio</i>

“…Even though S. noctilio seemed adept at disseminating its population because of flight capacity, the result demonstrates that it still is difficult for a single S. noctilio adult to widely proliferate by itself. Recent field studies suggest that S. noctilio dispersal within a forest is very limited, less than 150 meters [12,13]. Given these constraints, the best strategy for S. noctilio seems to be to alight in a nearby tree and use its final resources for ovipositional activity [14].…”