Dispersion and population densities of the eye gnat Hippelates pusio [Man, domestic animals, insect pests]

Fluorescent dust was used to mark field-collected, field-collected and sterilized, and laboratory-reared Hippelates pusio Loew adults for dispersal studies. The dispersion of the field-collected adults was much greater than that of the laboratory-reared gnats. The average dispersal distance of field...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Florida entomologist 1974-12, Vol.57 (4), p.361-368
Main Authors: Williams, David F., Kuitert, Louis C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerial application
Cylinders
Density estimation
Entomology
Gnats
Mortality
Population density
Population estimates
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Fluorescent dust was used to mark field-collected, field-collected and sterilized, and laboratory-reared Hippelates pusio Loew adults for dispersal studies. The dispersion of the field-collected adults was much greater than that of the laboratory-reared gnats. The average dispersal distance of field-collected and sterilized gnats was slightly greater than the non-sterilized field gnats, thus sterilization did not appear to affect dispersion. The farthest distance of dispersal was 1106 m (1 gnat), while the longest interval following release that a marked gnat was collected was 10 days. During a 2 year period, the months of June through August yielded the highest field populations, with peaks occurring during July. The population density of H. pusio calculated for a 213.3 ha (527 acres) partially wooded farm was approximately 2 to 5 thousand per 0.4 ha (acre) or a total of 1 to 3 million gnats.
ISSN:0015-4040
1938-5102
DOI:10.2307/3493495