Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T04:05:59.708Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influence of weather and nocturnal illumination on the activity and abundance of populations of Noctuids (Lepidoptera) in south coastal Queensland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Bert Persson
Bert Persson
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A light-trap separating hourly catches was operated on a pasture research station in south coastal Queensland for 18 months in 1972 and 1973. A total of 339 000 Noctuid moths was captured. Half of the catch comprised pest species. Weather and nocturnal illumination were recorded on the trapping site. Multiple regression analyses were performed on the raw data, and, for comparison, some pest species were reared under semi-field conditions for a year. Night temperature, night wind and nocturnal illumination, in that order, were the most important factors influencing catch. Temperature and wind were each responsible for about one-fifth of the variance in catch, nocturnal illumination for about one-tenth. Twenty per cent of the variance in catch cannot be ascribed to changes in local weather or illumination. Wind had a significantly stronger influence on males than on females all year round, temperature a significantly stronger one on females than on males in summer. This was probably due to differences in the vertical distribution of flight in the two sexes, females flying lower than males. Nocturnal illumination had a significantly stronger influence on females than on males; on females its influence was almost as strong as that of wind, increasing with rising temperature to be twice as strong in summer as in winter. Females were most abundant in the first part of the night, males in the second. Temperature, wind and moonlight maintain this nocturnal distribution which is probably endogenously controlled. Female flight is probably linked to oviposition, male flight to response to pheromone release from calling females. Heavy out-of-season rainfall had a negative effect on Noctuid populations in the area and strongly increased both larval and adult mortality. Temperatures and rainfall during the larval and adult periods equal to the corresponding long-term averages and totals create optimal conditions for the development of Noctuid populations. Strong indications of migration were found in autumn and spring of 1973. Many moths of different species probably entered the area during nights with wind convergence caused by the passage of cold fronts. Separate analyses on the most abundant pest species confirmed the results of the analyses on the total catch of Noctuids.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 66 , Issue 1 , March 1976 , pp. 33 - 63
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bowden, J. (1973a). The significance of moonlight in photoperiodic responses of insects.—Bull. ent. Res. 62, 605–612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowden, J. (1973b). The influence of moonlight on catches of insects in light-traps in Africa. Part I. The moon and moonlight.—Bull. ent. Res. 63, 113–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowden, J. & Church, B. M. (1973). The influence of moonlight on catches of insects in light-traps in Africa. Part II. The effect of moon phase on light-trap catches.—Bull. ent. Res. 63, 129–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowden, J. & Gibbs, D. G. (1973). Light-trap and suction-trap catches of insects in the northern Gezira, Sudan, in the season of southward movement of the Inter-Tropical Front.—Bull. ent. Res. 62, 571–596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, E. S. (1970). Nocturnal insect flight direction in relation to the wind.—Proc. R. ent. Soc, Lond., A 45, 39–43.Google Scholar
Brown, E. S., Betts, E. & Rainey, R. C. (1969). Seasonal changes in distribution of the African armyworm, Spodoptera exempta (Wlk.) (Lep., Noctuidae), with special reference to eastern Africa.—Bull. ent. Res. 58, 661–728.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, E. S. & Swaine, G. (1966). New evidence on the migration of moths of the African armyworm, Spodoptera exempta (Wlk.) (Lep., Noctuidae).—Bull. ent. Res. 56, 671–684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, E. S. & Taylor, L. R. (1971). Lunar cycles in the distribution and abundance of airborne insects in the equatorial highlands of East Africa.—J. Anim. Ecol. 40, 767–779.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callahan, P. S., Sparks, A. N., Snow, J. W. & Copeland, W. W. (1972). Corn earworm moth: vertical distribution in nocturnal flight.—Environ. Entomol. 1, 497–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Common, I. F. B. (1953). The Australian species of Heliothis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and their pest status.—Aust. J. Zool. 1, 319–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Common, I. F. B. (1954). A study of the ecology of the adult bogong moth, Agrotis infusa (Boisd.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), with special reference to its behaviour during migration and aestivation.—Aust. J. Zool. 2, 223–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Common, I. F. B. (1958). The Australian cutworms of the genus Agrotis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).— Aust. J. Zool. 6, 69–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Currie, G. A. (1930). The brown cutworm (Euxoa radians Guen.) Part I-IV.—Qd agric. J. 34, 10–16, 138–163, 383–390, 488–95.Google Scholar
Dixon, W. J. (Ed.) (1973). BMD-biomedical computer programs.—773 pp. Los Angeles, University of Los Angeles Press.Google Scholar
Fye, R. E. (1973). Potential mortality of pink bollworms caused by summer thunderstorms.—J. econ. Ent. 66, 531–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geiger, R. (1960). Das Klima der bodennahen Luftschicht.—646 pp. Braunschweig, Fr. Vieweg & Sohn.Google Scholar
Goodenough, J. L. & Snow, J. W. (1973). Tobacco budworms: nocturnal activity of adult males as indexed by attraction to live virgin females in electric grid traps.—J. econ. Ent. 66, 543–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haggis, M. J. (1971) Light-trap catches of Spodoptera exempta (Walk.) in relation to wind direction.—E. Afr. agric. For. J. 37, 100–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagstrum, D. W. & Tomblin, C. F. (1973). Oviposition by the almond moth, Cadra cautella, in response to falling temperature and onset of darkness.—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 66, 809–812.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hardwick, D. F. (1972). The influence of temperature and moon phase on the activity of noctuid moths.—Can. Ent. 104, 1767–1770.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendricks, D. E., Graham, H. M. & Fernandez, A. T. (1970). Mating of female tobacco budworms and bollworms collected from light traps.—J. econ. Ent. 63, 1228–1231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendricks, D. E. & Leal, M. P. (1973). Catch of adult tobacco budworms influenced by height of sex-lure traps.—J. econ. Ent. 66, 1218–1219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hosny, M. M. (1955). Notes on the effect of some secondary environmental conditions on the activity of nocturnal macrolepidoptera.—Bull. Soc. ent. Égypte 39, 297–314.Google Scholar
Kaae, R. S. & Shorey, H. H. (1972). Sex pheromones of Noctuid moths. XXVII. Influence of wind velocity on sex pheromone releasing behavior of Trichoplusia ni females.—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 65, 436–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaae, R. S., Shorey, H. H., McFarland, S. U. & Gaston, L. K. (1973). Sex pheromones of Lepidoptera. XXXVII. Role of sex pheromones and other factors in reproductive isolation among ten species of Noctuidae.—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 66, 444–448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsen, E. B. (1943). The importance of master factors for the activity of Noctuids. Studies on the activity of insects. I.—Ent. Meddr. 23, 352–374.Google Scholar
Mitchell, E. R. (1973). Nocturnal activity of adults of three species of loopers, based on collections in pheromone traps.—Environ. Entomol. 2, 1078–1080.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nemec, S. J. (1971). Effects of lunar phases on light-trap collections and populations of bollworm moths.—J. econ. Ent. 64, 860–863.Google Scholar
Nil, N. H., Hull, C. H., Steinbrenner, K. & Bent, D. H. (1975). Statistical package for the social sciences.—2nd edn.661 pp. New York, McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Persson, B. (1971). Influence of light on flight activity of Noctuids (Lepidoptera) in south Sweden.—Entomol. scand. 2, 215–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Persson, B. (1972). Longevity of Noctuid moths in relation to certain day-time weather factors.—Oikos 23, 394–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Persson, B. (1974). Diel distribution of oviposition in Agrotis ipsilon (Hufn.), Agrotis munda (Walk.), and Heliothis armigera (Hbn.), (Lep., Noctuidae), in relation to temperature and moonlight.—Entomol. scand. 5, 196–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sower, L. L., Shorey, H. H. & Gaston, L. K. (1970). Sex pheromones of Noctuid moths. XXI. Light:dark cycle regulation and light inhibition of sex pheromone release by females of Trichoplusia ni.—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 63, 1090–1092.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sower, L. L., Shorey, H. H. & Gaston, L. K. (1971). Sex pheromones of Noctuid moths. XXV. Effects of temperature and photoperiod on circadian rhythms of sex pheromone release by females of Trichoplusia ni.—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 64, 488–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, L. R. & Brown, E. S. (1972). Effects of light-trap design and illumination on samples of moths in the Kenya highlands.—Bull. ent. Res. 62, 91–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weddel, J. A. (1936). A recent army worm outbreak.—Qd agric. J. 45, 449–460.Google Scholar
Williams, C. B. (1936). The influence of moonlight on the activity of certain nocturnal insects, particularly of the family Noctuidae as indicated by a light-trap.—Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 226, 357–389.Google Scholar
Williams, C. B. (1961). Studies in the effect of weather conditions on the activity and abundance of insect populations.—Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B 244, 331–378.Google Scholar
Williams, C. B., Singh, B. P. & El Ziady, S. (1956). An investigation into the possible effects of moonlight on the activity of insects in the field.—Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond., A 31, 135–144.Google Scholar