Recent Insights from Radar Studies of Insect Flight

Radar has been used to study insects in flight for over 40 years and has helped to establish the ubiquity of several migration phenomena: dawn, morning, and dusk takeoffs; approximate downwind transport; concentration at wind convergences; layers in stable nighttime atmospheres; and nocturnal common...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of entomology 2011-01, Vol.56 (1), p.337-356
Main Authors: Chapman, Jason W, Drake, V. Alistair, Reynolds, Don R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Migration
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
dispersal behavior
Flight, Animal
foraging
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
harmonic radar
Hymenoptera
insect flight
Insecta
Insecta - physiology
Invertebrates
Lepidoptera
literature reviews
migration behavior
monitoring
navigation
new methods
new technology
orientation
periodicity
Radar
remote sensing
research methods
seasonal migration
seasonal variation
vertical-looking radar
wind
wind direction
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Summary:Radar has been used to study insects in flight for over 40 years and has helped to establish the ubiquity of several migration phenomena: dawn, morning, and dusk takeoffs; approximate downwind transport; concentration at wind convergences; layers in stable nighttime atmospheres; and nocturnal common orientation. Two novel radar designs introduced in the late 1990s have significantly enhanced observing capabilities. Radar-based research now encompasses foraging as well as migration and is increasingly focused on flight behavior and the environmental cues influencing it. Migrant moths have been shown to employ sophisticated orientation and height-selection strategies that maximize displacements in seasonally appropriate directions; they appear to have an internal compass and to respond to turbulence features in the airflow. Tracks of foraging insects demonstrate compensation for wind drift and use of optimal search paths to locate resources. Further improvements to observing capabilities, and employment in operational as well as research roles, appear feasible.
ISSN:0066-4170
1545-4487
DOI:10.1146/annurev-ento-120709-144820