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Effects of Biotic and Abiotic Factors on Flight Performance of Ostrinia furnacalis

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Xiujing Shen at Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences
Xiujing Shen
Jianglong Guo at Hebei Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences
Jianglong Guo
Kongming Wu at Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Kongming Wu
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Abstract and Figures

The Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis, is the most notorious corn pest in East Asia and Oceania. The larvae seriously damage crops and lower yields. A previous study found that the O. furnacalis can migrate seasonally. However, the influencing factor on the flight performance of this pest has not yet been investigated. Here, the flight performance and its influencing factors of O. furnacalis were tested using computer-monitored flight mills. The results showed that the longest total flight of an individual was 71.49 km with a mean speed of 6.36 km·h⁻¹ (1.77 m·s⁻¹). Flight performance reached the peak when the moths were 2-days old, with a mean flight distance of 18.89 ± 2.03 km, mean flight duration of 7.34 ± 0.62 h and mean flight speed of 2.47 ± 0.10 km·h⁻¹ (0.69 m·s⁻¹). The flight capability of females was always higher than that of males. Mating status and nutritional status affected partial flight variables. For both sexes, only temperature and relative humidity among the abiotic factors significantly involved flight performance, which was most significant at 25–30 °C and 55–65%. Our study demonstrated that O. furnacalis have a high capability for migration and determined the influencing factors on flight performance. These results provide essential information for forecasting and management of this pest.
Means for flight performance variables of O. furnacalis moths as a function of age and sex (left) and the fitted distribution (right) at 25 °C and 75% RH over a 12-h flight trial. The bottom and top of each box are the lower and upper quartile values, respectively. The horizontal black solid line represents the median for each category, the black dotted line represents the mean. Whiskers indicate the maximum and minimum values. Different letters above bars indicate a significant difference among means in a Kruskal-Wallis test (P < 0.05)
Means for flight performance variables of O. furnacalis moths as a function of age and sex (left) and the fitted distribution (right) at 25 °C and 75% RH over a 12-h flight trial. The bottom and top of each box are the lower and upper quartile values, respectively. The horizontal black solid line represents the median for each category, the black dotted line represents the mean. Whiskers indicate the maximum and minimum values. Different letters above bars indicate a significant difference among means in a Kruskal-Wallis test (P < 0.05)
… 
Means for flight performance variables of O. furnacalis moths as a function of mating status (left) and fitted distribution (right) for percentage at 25 °C and 75% RH over a 12-h flight trial. Different letters above bars indicate a significant difference among means in Kruskal-Wallis test (P < 0.05). The bottom and top of each box are the lower and upper quartile values, respectively. The horizontal black solid line represents the median for each category, the black dotted line represents the mean. Whiskers indicate the maximum and minimum values
Means for flight performance variables of O. furnacalis moths as a function of mating status (left) and fitted distribution (right) for percentage at 25 °C and 75% RH over a 12-h flight trial. Different letters above bars indicate a significant difference among means in Kruskal-Wallis test (P < 0.05). The bottom and top of each box are the lower and upper quartile values, respectively. The horizontal black solid line represents the median for each category, the black dotted line represents the mean. Whiskers indicate the maximum and minimum values
… 
Means for flight performance variables of O. furnacalis moths as a function of nutritional status (left), and the fitted distribution (right) for percentage at 25 °C and 75% RH over a 12-h flight trial (ns, not significant, * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, according to a Mann-Whitney test). The bottom and top of each box are the lower and upper quartile values, respectively. The horizontal black solid line represents the median for each category, and the black dotted line represents the mean. Whiskers indicate the maximum and minimum values
Means for flight performance variables of O. furnacalis moths as a function of nutritional status (left), and the fitted distribution (right) for percentage at 25 °C and 75% RH over a 12-h flight trial (ns, not significant, * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, according to a Mann-Whitney test). The bottom and top of each box are the lower and upper quartile values, respectively. The horizontal black solid line represents the median for each category, and the black dotted line represents the mean. Whiskers indicate the maximum and minimum values
… 
Means for flight performance variables of O. furnacalis moths as a function of temperature (left) and the fitted distribution (right) for percentage at 25 °C and 75% RH over a 12-h flight trial. The bottom and top of each box are the lower and upper quartile values, respectively. The horizontal black solid line represents the median for each category, the black dotted line represents the mean. Whiskers indicate the maximum and minimum values. Different letters above bars indicate a significant difference among means in Kruskal-Wallis test (P < 0.05)
Means for flight performance variables of O. furnacalis moths as a function of temperature (left) and the fitted distribution (right) for percentage at 25 °C and 75% RH over a 12-h flight trial. The bottom and top of each box are the lower and upper quartile values, respectively. The horizontal black solid line represents the median for each category, the black dotted line represents the mean. Whiskers indicate the maximum and minimum values. Different letters above bars indicate a significant difference among means in Kruskal-Wallis test (P < 0.05)
… 
Means for flight performance variables of O. furnacalis moths as a function of RH (left) and the fitted distribution (right) for percentage at 25 °C and 75% RH over a 12-h flight trial. The bottom and top of each box are the lower and upper quartile values, respectively. The horizontal black solid line represents the median for each category, the black dotted line represents the mean. Whiskers indicate the maximum and minimum values. Different letters above bars indicate a significant difference among means in a Kruskal-Wallis test (P < 0.05)
Means for flight performance variables of O. furnacalis moths as a function of RH (left) and the fitted distribution (right) for percentage at 25 °C and 75% RH over a 12-h flight trial. The bottom and top of each box are the lower and upper quartile values, respectively. The horizontal black solid line represents the median for each category, the black dotted line represents the mean. Whiskers indicate the maximum and minimum values. Different letters above bars indicate a significant difference among means in a Kruskal-Wallis test (P < 0.05)
… 
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-021-09783-z
Effects ofBiotic andAbiotic Factors onFlight Performance
ofOstrinia furnacalis
XiujingShen · JianglongGuo· KongmingWu
Received: 23 May 2020 / Revised: 18 August 2021 / Accepted: 19 August 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021
relative humidity among the abiotic factors signifi-
cantly involved flight performance, which was most
significant at 25–30°C and 55–65%. Our study dem-
onstrated that O. furnacalis have a high capability for
migration and determined the influencing factors on
flight performance. These results provide essential
information for forecasting and management of this
pest.
Keywords Ostrinia furnacalis· Flight mill· Biotic
factor· Abiotic factor· Flight performance
Introduction
Dispersal behavior enables insects to exploit variable
resources over time and space for critical functions
such as foraging, mating, finding oviposition sites,
and thus to adapt to environmental changes timely to
maintain population and community stability (Ronce
2007). The Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis
(Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is the most seri-
ous agricultural pest of maize, sorghum, millet and
other crops in east Asia and Oceania (Nafus and
Schreiner 1991; Huang et al. 1998; Afidchao et al.
2013; Park etal. 2017). It causes 10–20% yield losses
annually and may destroy the crop in severe cases
(Nicolas et al. 2013). Our previous field monitoring
with a vertically pointing searchlight trap from 2003
to 2017 observed the seasonal migration of O. fur-
nacalis across the Bohai strait between northern and
Abstract The Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furna-
calis, is the most notorious corn pest in East Asia
and Oceania. The larvae seriously damage crops
and lower yields. A previous study found that the
O. furnacalis can migrate seasonally. However, the
influencing factor on the flight performance of this
pest has not yet been investigated. Here, the flight
performance and its influencing factors of O. fur-
nacalis were tested using computer-monitored flight
mills. The results showed that the longest total flight
of an individual was 71.49km with a mean speed of
6.36km·h−1 (1.77m·s−1). Flight performance reached
the peak when the moths were 2-days old, with a
mean flight distance of 18.89 ± 2.03km, mean flight
duration of 7.34 ± 0.62 h and mean flight speed of
2.47 ± 0.10 km·h−1 (0.69 m·s−1). The flight capabil-
ity of females was always higher than that of males.
Mating status and nutritional status affected partial
flight variables. For both sexes, only temperature and
X.Shen
State Key Laboratory ofEcological Pest Control forFujian
andTaiwan Crops, College ofPlant Protection, Fujian
Agriculture andForestry University, Fuzhou350002,
China
e-mail: shenxj1230@163.com
X.Shen· J.Guo· K.Wu(*)
State Key Laboratory forBiology ofPlant Diseases
andInsect Pests, Institute ofPlant Protection, Chinese
Academy ofAgricultural Sciences, No.12 Zhongguancun
South St., Haidian District, Beijing100193, China
e-mail: wukongming@caas.cn
/ Published online: 26 August 2021
J Insect Behav (2021) 34:240–253
1 3
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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