Sirex noctilio flight behavior : towards improving current monitoring techniques

Abstract

Sirex noctilio Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Siricidae), una avispa invasora de España y el Norte de África, tiene una presencia global en expansión en los bosques de pino. A pesar de que sus poblaciones se gestionan en la mayoría partes del mundo, la tasa de éxito de las estrategias de prevención y control existentes ha sido históricamente variable y hay consenso en que las técnicas de monitorización podrían mejorarse con una mayor conocimiento sobre la biología del comportamiento de este insecto. Hemos llevado a cabo estudios de campo descriptiva en pino plantaciones en el norte de la Patagonia para establecer el comportamiento de vuelo de S. noctilio. En concreto, el objetivo fue caracterizar las distribuciones verticales de vuelo masculinos y femeninos para evaluar la colocación ideal en la trampa de plagas programas de seguimiento.

Sirex noctilio Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Siricidae), an invasive woodwasp from Spain and North Africa, has an expanding global presence in pine forests. Although their populations are managed in most parts of the world, the success rate of existing prevention and control strategies has been historically variable, and there is consensus that monitoring techniques could be improved with increased knowledge about the behavioral biology of this insect. We conducted descriptive field studies in pine plantations in northern Patagonia to establish the flight behavior of S. noctilio. Specifically, the aim was to characterize male and female vertical flight distributions to assess ideal trap placement in pest monitoring programs. Our results indicated that males fly higher than females. A post-hoc analysis revealed two distinct flight patterns of females; when males are present, females fly higher than when males are absent. This behavioral variance is likely linked to (1) oviposition substrate location and (2) mate location. Results suggest that the most effective trapping and monitoring strategies for females should be deployed at 1.8 m height, whereas monitoring of males or females that are searching for mates would occur at greater heights. Results also suggest that if future techniques involving pheromones are developed, trap placement should be reassessed.