Tethered and Untethered Flight by Lygus hesperus and Lygus lineolaris (Heteroptera: Miridae)

• Published in: Environmental entomology 2004-10, Vol.33 (5), p.1389-1400
• Main Authors: Blackmer, Jacquelyn L, Naranjo, Steve E, Williams, Livy H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Hemiptera; Lygus hesperus; Lygus lineolaris; Miridae
• ISSN: 0046-225X
• DOI: 10.1603/0046-225X(2004)033[1389:TAUFBL]2.0.CO;2

We compared the flight behavior of Lygus hesperus Knight and Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) relative to age, sex, and time of day by using tethered (flight mills) and untethered flight (vertical flight chamber) assays. Both species and sexes initiated flights throughout the day, and flight mill assays recorded flights throughout the night. For both species and flight systems, most flights were 5 min) that were of longer cumulative duration compared with L. hesperus. The longest flights were obtained with flight mills and were 17-18 times longer than the longest flight (22 min) in the flight chamber. Determination of flight periodicity, throughout the day and night, was only possible for tethered insects, and females exhibited more distinct periodicities for sustained flights than males. For L. hesperus females, sustained flights followed a diurnal to crepuscular periodicity, whereas sustained flights by L. lineolaris females were nocturnal. No significant correlations were found between egg load and any of the flight parameters when grouped by species, but there was a positive correlation between the number of spermatophores and several of the flight parameters for female L. hesperus. In the vertical flight chamber, takeoffs began at low light levels and were always higher for L. lineolaris than L. hesperus. Rates of climb toward the skylight cue were approximately 50 cm/s, indicating a capacity for strong, self-directed flight by both species.