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A radar study of emigratory flight and layer formation by insects at dawn over southern Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2007

D.R. Reynolds ,
A.D. Smith  and
J.W. Chapman
D.R. Reynolds*
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Central Avenue, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TB, UK
A.D. Smith
Affiliation:
Plant and Invertebrate Ecology Division, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, UK
J.W. Chapman
Affiliation:
Plant and Invertebrate Ecology Division, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, UK
*
*Fax: +44 1634 883379/880066 E-mail: D.Reynolds@greenwich.ac.uk
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Abstract

Radar observations have consistently shown that high-altitude migratory flight in insects generally occurs after mass take-off at dusk or after take-off over a more extended period during the day (in association with the growth of atmospheric convection). In this paper, we focus on a less-studied third category of emigration – the ‘dawn take-off’ – as recorded by insect-monitoring radars during the summer months in southern England. In particular, we describe occasions when dawn emigrants formed notable layer concentrations centred at altitudes ranging from ca. 240 m to 700 m above ground, very probably due to the insects responding to local temperature maxima in the atmosphere, such as the tops of inversions. After persisting for several hours through the early morning, the layers eventually merged into the insect activity building up later in the morning (from 06.00–08.00 h onwards) in conjunction with the development of daytime convection. The species forming the dawn layers have not been positively identified, but their masses lay predominantly in the 16–32 mg range, and they evidently formed a fauna quite distinct from that in flight during the previous night. The displacement and common orientation (mutual alignment) characteristics of the migrants are described.

Keywords

migrationflight behaviourinsect layerstemperature inversioninsect-monitoring radar
Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 98 , Issue 1 , February 2008 , pp. 35 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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