Modelling pheromone anemotaxis for biosecurity surveillance Moth movement patterns reveal a downwind component of anemotaxis

Authored by S Guichard, D J Kriticos, J M Kean, S P Worner

Date Published: 2010

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.08.030

Sponsors: New Zealand Foundation for Research Science and Technology Better Border Biosecurity (B3)

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Flow charts Mathematical description

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

Insect pheromone traps are becoming an increasingly important tool in biosecurity and pest surveillance alerting managers to the presence of unwanted organisms To expand the role of these traps beyond their present sentinel role it is necessary to develop reliable operational models of local insect dispersal Following the detection of an insect incursion using a pheromone trap such models could simulate the dispersal of the insect from its emergence site to the point of detection enabling biosecurity managers to estimate the most likely proximal source of the incursion An individual-based moth movement model was developed to simulate observed patterns of moth movement in response to the presence or absence of a pheromone Using parameters derived from a genetic algorithm it was possible to fit a model based on the three behavioural components (upwind upwind with zigzags and casting) described in insect anemotaxis theory to a subset of observed movement patterns (0-135 degrees to the wind) but not to the whole spectrum of movement patterns It appears that current insect anemotaxis theory is missing a downwind flight component Whilst the frequency of downwind movements is small their ground speed could lead to significant downwind displacement having a disproportionately strong influence on a moth movement model and hence projections of the likely source or target locations Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B V All rights reserved

Tags

Individual-based model Sex-pheromone Male gypsy moths Modulated upwind flight Fine-scale structure Lymantria-dispar l Wind-borne odor Flying moths Optomotor anemotaxis Different heights