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Appetitive flight patterns of male Agrotis segetum moths over landscape scales

Reynolds, A M ; Reynolds, D R ; Smith, A D ; Svensson, Glenn LU and Löfstedt, Christer LU (2007) In Journal of Theoretical Biology 245(1). p.141-149
Abstract
An analysis is presented of the first harmonic radar studies of pheromone-plume locating flights of male Agrotis segetum moths over distances of up to 500m. Upon release most moths flew in a direction having a downwind component. The first significant changes in flight orientations occur in the immediate vicinity of a pheromone source. Moths that were initially flying downwind change course and start flying crosswind whilst those that initially flew crosswind change course and start flying upwind. It is shown that such behaviour is consistent with the adoption of an effective plume-location strategy, and conditions are identified when downwind flights would be more advantageous than crosswind ones. Additionally, some of the complex flight... (More)
An analysis is presented of the first harmonic radar studies of pheromone-plume locating flights of male Agrotis segetum moths over distances of up to 500m. Upon release most moths flew in a direction having a downwind component. The first significant changes in flight orientations occur in the immediate vicinity of a pheromone source. Moths that were initially flying downwind change course and start flying crosswind whilst those that initially flew crosswind change course and start flying upwind. It is shown that such behaviour is consistent with the adoption of an effective plume-location strategy, and conditions are identified when downwind flights would be more advantageous than crosswind ones. Additionally, some of the complex flight patterns that can arise at later times are shown to be compatible with the adoption of an optimal biased scale-free (Levy-flight) searching strategy. It is found that disruptive doses of sex pheromone can have a marked influence upon male moth flight patterns. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Pheromone plumes, Noctuidae, Agrotis segetum, Lepidoptera, Casting, Lévy flights
in
Journal of Theoretical Biology
volume
245
issue
1
pages
141 - 149
publisher
Academic Press
external identifiers
  • wos:000245091800014
  • scopus:33846798145
ISSN
1095-8541
DOI
10.1016/j.jtbi.2006.10.007
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f24694c5-b745-4dd4-b250-f938d737862f (old id 168554)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:30:25
date last changed
2022-01-28 05:43:32
@article{f24694c5-b745-4dd4-b250-f938d737862f,
  abstract     = {{An analysis is presented of the first harmonic radar studies of pheromone-plume locating flights of male Agrotis segetum moths over distances of up to 500m. Upon release most moths flew in a direction having a downwind component. The first significant changes in flight orientations occur in the immediate vicinity of a pheromone source. Moths that were initially flying downwind change course and start flying crosswind whilst those that initially flew crosswind change course and start flying upwind. It is shown that such behaviour is consistent with the adoption of an effective plume-location strategy, and conditions are identified when downwind flights would be more advantageous than crosswind ones. Additionally, some of the complex flight patterns that can arise at later times are shown to be compatible with the adoption of an optimal biased scale-free (Levy-flight) searching strategy. It is found that disruptive doses of sex pheromone can have a marked influence upon male moth flight patterns.}},
  author       = {{Reynolds, A M and Reynolds, D R and Smith, A D and Svensson, Glenn and Löfstedt, Christer}},
  issn         = {{1095-8541}},
  keywords     = {{Pheromone plumes; Noctuidae; Agrotis segetum; Lepidoptera; Casting; Lévy flights}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{141--149}},
  publisher    = {{Academic Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Theoretical Biology}},
  title        = {{Appetitive flight patterns of male <i>Agrotis segetum</i> moths over landscape scales}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2006.10.007}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jtbi.2006.10.007}},
  volume       = {{245}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}