Comparing <i>Drosophila suzukii</i> flight behavior using free‐flight and tethered flight assays

Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata · 2022 · 9 citations

• Biology
• Ecology
• Aeronautics

Abstract Tethered flight mills and free‐flight studies are two common approaches for examining insect flight behavior in the laboratory. Flight behavior studies are significant because they provide information with understanding dispersal and range expansion. Each approach has advantages and drawbacks and can influence the flight behavior of the study organism. However, tethered and untethered flight studies are rarely performed simultaneously to determine whether one technique is better suited for a particular species. Here, we conducted a tethered and untethered flight study to determine the limitations, benefits, and effects the two methods could have on assessing an insect's flight capacity. We focused the study on the global invasive pest, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae). Propensity of flight and flight duration, distance, and velocity were examined for (1) females and males, and (2) summer and winter morphs, as the two morphs differ significantly in body and wing size. The study showed that summer morphs were more likely to fly when untethered than when tethered to a flight mill. Additionally, when comparing the length of time of flight for first take‐off, D. suzukii flew longer when untethered. Outcomes from this study provide information on D. suzukii flight behavior, which could assist with future research on this economically important fruit pest that is rapidly expanding its range. The results also suggest that the flight apparatus can affect D. suzukii flight behaviors, such that future laboratory flight research should be considerate of the flight technique utilized.

Proximate Drivers of Migration and Dispersal in Wing-Monomorphic Insects

Insects · 2020 · 9 citations

• Biology
• Ecology
• Evolutionary biology

) as a case study of a behaviorally-polymorphic migratory species lacking morphological or physiological differentiation. In addition, both adaptive and non-adaptive explanations for the empirically variable relationship between egg production and flight in wing-monomorphic insects are discussed. Finally, with respect to the largest order of insects (Hymenoptera), the role of sex determination mechanisms for haplodiploidy as a driver for natal dispersal (for inbreeding avoidance) versus philopatry (such as in local mate competition) is discussed.

Morphometric criteria to differentiate Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) seasonal morphs

PLoS ONE · 2020 · 36 citations

• Biology
• Ecology
• Zoology

Temperate insect species often enter diapause in preparation for overwintering. One such species is the invasive vinegar fly, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), which has seasonal polymorphisms, considered winter and summer morphs. To date, the morphs have been differentiated by color and size with winter morphs typically being darker and larger compared to summer morphs. 'Dark' and 'large' are subjective, however, and standardizing an identification process can ensure that the morph of interest is being accurately characterized. The goal of our research was to investigate a quantitative method to distinguish between D. suzukii morphs based on body and wing size. We reared winter and summer morph D. suzukii in the laboratory using standard procedures, and measured wing length, wing width, and hind tibia length. Additionally, we collected field D. suzukii to document the seasonal phenology of the morphs in Minnesota based on our model's cutoff criteria. A classification and regression tree analysis were used to determine which metrics would be best for predicting field-caught D. suzukii morphs. Using laboratory-reared flies as our known morphs for the training data in the classification model we developed classification trees based on wing length and the ratio of wing length to hind tibia length. The frequency of winter and summer morphs present in the field varied based on which classification tree was used. Nevertheless, we suggest ratio of wing length to hind tibia length as the most robust criteria for differentiating D. suzukii morphs because the ratio accounts for the size variability between laboratory-reared and field-caught flies and the error rate of misclassification is reduced to 0.01 for males. The results from this work can aid in future D. suzukii research by allowing scientists to objectively differentiate the morphs, and thereby improve our understanding of the biology and phenology of seasonal morph dynamics.

Dispersal strategies in terrestrial insects

Current Opinion in Insect Science · 2018-02-08 · 29 citations

Annelid Vision

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Neuroscience · 2018-02-26 · 1 citations

Annelid worms are simultaneously an interesting and difficult model system for understanding the evolution of animal vision. On the one hand, a wide variety of photoreceptor cells and eye morphologies are exhibited within a single phylum; on the other, annelid phylogenetics has been substantially re-envisioned within the last decade, suggesting the possibility of considerable convergent evolution. This article reviews the comparative anatomy of annelid visual systems within the context of the specific behaviors exhibited by these animals. Each of the major classes of annelid visual systems is examined, including both simple photoreceptor cells (including leech body eyes) and photoreceptive cells with pigment (trochophore larval eyes, ocellar tubes, complex eyes); meanwhile, behaviors examined include differential mobility and feeding strategies, similarities (or differences) in larval versus adult visual behaviors within a species, visual signaling, and depth sensing. Based on our review, several major trends in the comparative morphology and ethology of annelid vision are highlighted: (1) eye complexity tends to increase with mobility and higher-order predatory behavior; (2) although they have simple sensors these can relay complex information through large numbers or multimodality; (3) polychaete larval and adult eye morphology can differ strongly in many mobile species, but not in many sedentary species; and (4) annelids exhibiting visual signaling possess even more complex visual systems than expected, suggesting the possibility that complex eyes can be simultaneously well adapted to multiple visual tasks.

The defensive aphid symbiont Hamiltonella defensa affects host quality differently for Aphelinus glycinis versus Aphelinus atriplicis

Biological Control · 2017-05-31 · 30 citations

Morphometric Measurements of Field and Laboratory-Reared Spotted-Wing Drosophila (2017-2018)

University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy (University of Minnesota) · 2017-06-17

Winter and summer morph Drosophila suzukii can be difficult to distinguished based on a color scale. The purpose of this data were to find an alternative, quantitative method for identifying the two morphs using wing and/or hind tibia measurements.

Intraspecific variation in facultative symbiont infection among native and exotic pest populations: Potential implications for biological control

Biological Control · 2017-06-27 · 35 citations

Sex‐specific dispersal by a parasitoid wasp in the field

Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata · 2016-04-28 · 15 citations

Abstract Although parasitoid wasps are important regulators of herbivorous insect populations, very little is known regarding their movement under field conditions. Here, we examined the vertical and cardinal directionality of dispersal by B inodoxys communis ( G ahan) ( H ymenoptera: B raconidae: A phidiinae), an exotic Asian parasitoid released as a biological control agent of the soybean aphid, A phis glycines M atsumura ( H emiptera: A phididae: A phidinae), in North American soybeans, G lycine max (L.) M err. ( F abaceae). The patterns are consistent with time‐dependent, sex‐specific dispersal strategies; whereas males show flight that is devoid of vertical or cardinal directionality, females consistently move at or above soybean canopy height toward the east and north. Male capture rates also appear to be more correlated with local conditions than those of females. These results suggest that females actively cross the flight boundary layer (the space above which insect flight is largely wind‐driven as opposed to self‐directed) and follow air currents away from soybean fields, whereas males engage in more localized movement. The data also suggest differing response potentials of the sexes to changing local resource conditions (host availability, female availability, host plant cultivar). We discuss the implications for sex‐specific movement on the basic biology of introduced parasitoid species, and their applied role as potential agents in importation biological control programs.

Supplementary material 1 - 10340 2015 681 MOESM1 ESM - Invasion biology of Spotted Wing Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii): a global perspective and future priorities

2015-01-01