Abstract
BackgroundSixty percent of all species are insects, yet despite global efforts to monitor animal movement patterns, insects are continuously underrepresented. This striking difference between species richness and the number of species monitored is not due to a lack of interest but rather to the lack of technical solutions. Often the accuracy and speed of established tracking methods is not high enough to record behavior and react to it experimentally in real-time, which applies in particular to small flying animals.ResultsOur new method of real-time tracking relates to frequencies of solar radiation which are almost completely absorbed by traveling through the atmosphere. For tracking, photoluminescent tags with a peak emission (1400 nm), which lays in such a region of strong absorption through the atmosphere, were attached to the animals. The photoluminescent properties of passivated lead sulphide quantum dots were responsible for the emission of light by the tags and provide a superb signal-to noise ratio. We developed prototype markers with a weight of 12.5 mg and a diameter of 5 mm. Furthermore, we developed a short wave infrared detection system which can record and determine the position of an animal in a heterogeneous environment with a delay smaller than 10 ms. With this method we were able to track tagged bumblebees as well as hawk moths in a flight arena that was placed outside on a natural meadow.ConclusionOur new method eliminates the necessity of a constant or predictable environment for many experimental setups. Furthermore, we postulate that the developed matrix-detector mounted to a multicopter will enable tracking of small flying insects, over medium range distances (>1000 m) in the near future because: a) the matrix-detector equipped with an 70 mm interchangeable lens weighs less than 380 g, b) it evaluates the position of an animal in real-time and c) it can directly control and communicate with electronic devices.
Highlights
Sixty percent of all species are insects, yet despite global efforts to monitor animal movement patterns, insects are continuously underrepresented
We would like to frame our definition of tracking as follows: Waypoints, i. e. coordinates indicating the position of the object to be observed can be acquired anywhere along its route or line of travel, apart from systemic exceptions
In contrast to an artificial environment, most parameters are not controllable in a natural environment (e. g. the background) and recording of more than a few waypoints of a route or line of travel is still challenging for small animals (< 100 g) [6,7,8]
Summary
Sixty percent of all species are insects, yet despite global efforts to monitor animal movement patterns, insects are continuously underrepresented. This striking difference between species richness and the number of species monitored is not due to a lack of interest but rather to the lack of technical solutions. A tracking method must meet different requirements to be used in natural or artificial environments. G. the background) and recording of more than a few waypoints of a route or line of travel is still challenging for small animals (< 100 g) [6,7,8]. To the best of our knowledge, methods for tracking individual insects are limited to electromagnetic radiation. The focus of the manuscript lies exclusively on methods that use electromagnetic radiation
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