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Riders on the Wind: The Aeroecology of Insect Migrants

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Aeroecology

Abstract

Migratory flight close to the Earth’s surface (within the so-called flight boundary layer) occurs in some insects, but the vast majority of migrants ascend above this layer and harness the power of the wind for transport. The resulting displacements range from dispersive movements over a few tens of metres to seasonal migrations covering thousands of kilometres. In this chapter, we summarize knowledge of the use of the aerosphere by insects, focusing particularly on longer migrations, in relation to: the height and duration of flight, direction and speed of movement, seasonal and diel patterns, and responses to atmospheric conditions and phenomena. The seasonal mass movements have major ecological consequences in the invaded areas, and these are discussed briefly. We also highlight recent comparisons of insect movement strategies with those of flying vertebrates and mention interactions between these groups in the atmosphere. We conclude with some suggestions for the future development of these topics.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support provided by COST—European Cooperation in Science and Technology through the Action ES1305 ‘European Network for the Radar Surveillance of Animal Movement’ (ENRAM). JWC acknowledges support of Rothamsted Research, where he was employed during much of the drafting process; Rothamsted Research is a national institute of bioscience strategically funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Kent, UK

    Don R. Reynolds

  2. Centre for Ecology and Conservation, and Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, UK

    Jason W. Chapman

  3. School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences, University of New South Wales at Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    V. Alistair Drake

  4. Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    V. Alistair Drake

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  1. Don R. Reynolds
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  2. Jason W. Chapman
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  3. V. Alistair Drake
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Correspondence to Don R. Reynolds .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Meteorology, Advanced Radar Research Laboratory, and Center for Autonomous Sensing and Sampling, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

    Phillip B. Chilson

  2. Senior Director of Conservation Science, Bat Conservation International, Austin, Texas, USA

    Winifred F. Frick

  3. Oklahoma Biological Survey, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

    Jeffrey F. Kelly

  4. Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach, Switzerland

    Felix Liechti

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Reynolds, D.R., Chapman, J.W., Drake, V.A. (2017). Riders on the Wind: The Aeroecology of Insect Migrants. In: Chilson, P., Frick, W., Kelly, J., Liechti, F. (eds) Aeroecology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68576-2_7

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