Abstract
Several insect species pose a serious threat to different plant species, sometimes becoming a pest that produces significant damage to the landscape, biodiversity, and/or the economy. This is the case of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae), Semanotus laurasii Lucas (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), and Monochamus galloprovincialis Olivier (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), which have become serious threats to ornamental and productive trees all over the world such as palm trees, cypresses, and pines. Knowledge about their flight potential is very important for designing and applying measures targeted to reduce the negative effects from these pests. Studying the flight capability and behaviour of some insects is difficult due to their small size and the large area wherein they can fly, so we wondered how we could obtain information about their flight capabilities in a controlled environment. The answer came with the design of flight mills. Relevant data about the flight potential of these insects may be recorded and analysed by means of a flight mill. Once an insect is attached to the flight mill, it is able to fly in a circular direction without hitting walls or objects. By adding sensors to the flight mill, it is possible to record the number of revolutions and flight time. This paper presents a full description of a computer monitored flight mill. The description covers both the mechanical and the electronic parts in detail. The mill was designed to easily adapt to the anatomy of different insects and was successfully tested with individuals from three species R. ferrugineus, S. laurasii, and M. galloprovincialis.
Highlights
In the order of Coleoptera, there is a large number of species that constitute a serious danger to trees and plants, causing negative effects upon them during their feeding and reproduction
This paper presents a detailed description of the construction, instrumentation, and use of a flight mill
The flight mill described in this paper uses an infrared emitter and receiver to detect the movement of the arm when it interrupts the infrared beam, the same approach followed in other works like [21]
Summary
In the order of Coleoptera, there is a large number of species that constitute a serious danger to trees and plants, causing negative effects upon them during their feeding and reproduction. Indoor studies offer the possibility to obtain data about the potential behaviour of insect flight They allow us to work with quarantine pests, because releasing these kinds of insects into the wild is not possible, like in the case of R. ferrugineus. A clear example is a tail wind helping the insect fly longer distances with less effort Despite these constraints, knowledge coming from flight mills may be very useful for obtaining data about basic flight attributes [15]. It may be useful for improving knowledge about the insect by other means, like outdoor experiments In this case, data collected from the flight mill may help to arrange traps in a mark-release-recapture study, for example
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