Ávalos J A, Martí-Campoy A, Soto A
Instituto Agroforestal Mediterráneo (IAM),Universitat Politècnica de València,Camino de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia,Spain.
Departamento de Informática de Sistemas y Computadores (DISCA),Universitat Politècnica de València,Camino de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia,Spain.
Bull Entomol Res. 2014 Aug;104(4):462-70. doi: 10.1017/S0007485314000121. Epub 2014 Apr 17.
The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae), native to tropical Asian regions, has become a serious threat to palm trees all over the world. Knowledge of its flight potential is vital to improving the preventive and curative measures currently used to manage this pest. As R. ferrugineus is a quarantine pest, it is difficult to study its flight potential in the field. A computer-monitored flight mill was adapted to analyse the flying ability of R. ferrugineus through the study of different flight parameters (number of flights, total distance flown, longest single flight, flight duration, and average and maximum speed) and the influence of the weevil's sex, age, and body size on these flight parameters. Despite significant differences in the adult body size (body weight and length) of males and females, the sex of R. ferrugineus adults did not have an influence on their flight potential. Neither adult body size nor age was found to affect the weevil's flying abilities, although there was a significantly higher percentage of individuals flying that were 8-23 days old than 1-7 days old. Compared to the longest single flight, 54% of the insects were classified as short-distance flyers (covering <100 m) and 36 and 10% were classified as medium- (100-5000 m) and long-distance (>5000 m), respectively. The results are compared with similar studies on different insect species under laboratory and field conditions.
红棕象甲，即锈色棕榈象（Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier)，鞘翅目：棕榈象甲科），原产于亚洲热带地区，现已对全球的棕榈树构成严重威胁。了解其飞行能力对于改进目前用于防治这种害虫的预防和治疗措施至关重要。由于锈色棕榈象是一种检疫性害虫，在野外研究其飞行能力很困难。通过对不同飞行参数（飞行次数、飞行总距离、最长单次飞行距离、飞行持续时间以及平均速度和最大速度）的研究，以及该象甲的性别、年龄和体型对这些飞行参数的影响，采用计算机监控的飞行磨来分析锈色棕榈象的飞行能力。尽管雄性和雌性成虫的体型（体重和体长）存在显著差异，但锈色棕榈象成虫的性别对其飞行能力没有影响。虽然发现8 - 23日龄的个体飞行比例明显高于1 - 7日龄的个体，但成虫的体型和年龄均未影响象甲的飞行能力。与最长单次飞行距离相比，54%的昆虫被归类为短距离飞行者（飞行距离<100米），36%和10%分别被归类为中距离（100 - 5000米）和长距离（>5000米）飞行者。将这些结果与在实验室和野外条件下对不同昆虫物种的类似研究进行了比较。
