Journal of Pest Science (2018) 91, 1269-1278

Jessica S. Wong, Adam C. Cave, Danielle M. Lightle, Walter F. Mahaffee, Steve E. Naranjo, Nik G. Wiman, J. Megan Woltz and Jana C. Lee (2018)
Drosophila suzukii flight performance reduced by starvation but not affected by humidity
Journal of Pest Science 91 (4), 1269-1278
Abstract: Drosophila suzukii is widely studied because of its status as a global pest of berries and soft fruits. Environmental conditions and access to food resources impact the physiology and fitness of D. suzukii; these factors could also affect dispersal. Flight mills are a convenient tool for measuring and comparing the flight performance of insects. In this study, two experiments examined the effects of diet and humidity on D. suzukii flight performance using custom-built flight mills, and a third experiment compared the energy reserves of D. suzukii flown or not flown on flight mills. Over all flight assays, the median flight distance and duration were 27.16 m and 2.37 min, respectively, and the mean flight velocity was 0.18 m/s. The maximum flight distance and duration by an individual were 1.75 km and 2.35 h, respectively. Drosophila suzukii provisioned with blossoms, fruits, or standard laboratory diets flew farther distances and longer durations than starved flies. While starvation was associated with reduced flight performance, there were no observed differences between diet types. It remains unclear whether D. suzukii consistently use lipids, glycogen, sugar, or another energy source for flight because tethered individuals may not have flown enough to deplete energy reserves. Humidity did not affect flight performance of D. suzukii within a ~ 2 h test period. These data indicate that most D. suzukii are likely to remain within limited area (e.g., within a field) but that some individuals can disperse long distances (field to field spread).
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Walter F. Mahaffee, Nik G. Wiman, Jana C. Lee, Steven E. Naranjo

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
population dynamics/ epidemiology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Drosophila suzukii