An Advanced Numerical Trajectory Model Tracks a Corn Earworm Moth Migration Event in Texas, USA

Many methods for trajectory simulation, such as Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT), have been developed over the past several decades and contributed greatly to our knowledge in insect migratory movement. To improve the accuracy of trajectory simulation, we developed a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2018-09, Vol.9 (3), p.115
Main Authors: Wu, Qiu-Lin, Hu, Gao, Westbrook, John K, Sword, Gregory A, Zhai, Bao-Ping
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
Atmospheric models
Behavior
Biometeorology
Butterflies & moths
Computer applications
Computer simulation
Computers
Corn
Evolution & development
Flight behavior
Helicoverpa zea
Immigrants
Insect migration
Insects
Long distance
Migration
Model accuracy
numerical simulation
Performance evaluation
Pheromone traps
Pollen
Rice
Temporal resolution
three-dimensional trajectory analysis program
Trajectory analysis
valuation
Weather
Weather forecasting
Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model
Wind
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Summary:Many methods for trajectory simulation, such as Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT), have been developed over the past several decades and contributed greatly to our knowledge in insect migratory movement. To improve the accuracy of trajectory simulation, we developed a new numerical trajectory model, in which the self-powered flight behaviors of insects are considered and trajectory calculation is driven by high spatio-temporal resolution weather conditions simulated by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. However, a rigorous evaluation of the accuracy of different trajectory models on simulated long-distance migration is lacking. Hence, in this study our trajectory model was evaluated by a migration event of the corn earworm moth, , in Texas, USA on 20⁻22 March 1995. The results indicate that the simulated migration trajectories are in good agreement with occurrences of all pollen-marked male immigrants monitored in pheromone traps. Statistical comparisons in the present study suggest that our model performed better than the popularly-used HYSPLIT model in simulating migration trajectories of . This study also shows the importance of high-resolution atmospheric data and a full understanding of migration behaviors to the computational design of models that simulate migration trajectories of highly-flying insects.
ISSN:2075-4450
2075-4450
DOI:10.3390/insects9030115