Wind Direction’s Effect on Flour Beetle Search Behavior
INTRODUCTION ϖ Background
Beetles are arthropods and generally classified as insects (General Biology, 2014). The flour beetle (Tribolium spp.) is commonly found in flour mills, food storage warehouses, and even homes, where it feeds upon flour and other grains (General Biology, 2014). Though flour beetles are harmless, they are a huge agricultural problem (General Biology, 2014). Due to their status as an agricultural pest, it is important to understand their behavior. Beetles behave differently in response to different environmental stimuli, called proximate causes, like light, wind movement, and availability of food; however, there are often underlying causes for these behaviors that have determined the evolutionary track of the beetle, called ultimate causes (General Biology, 2014). Beetles can also exhibit innate and learned behavior; innate behavior is a product of natural selection, as it has increased the survivability of the beetle over time. Furthermore, environmental conditions can influence the mating habits, growth rates, and amount of offspring produced (General Biology, 2014). Behavior is generally explained with the goal of survival in mind, or the need to eat, reproduce, communicate, and cooperate (General Biology, 2014). …show more content…
Schooley & Wiens tested the perceptual range and the movement behavior of cactus bug (Chelinidea vittiger), an insect and common pest among prickly pear cacti, finding a strong tendency to walk upwind in search of suitable patches (2003). C. vittiger’s tendency to orientate upwind is most likely due to their strong olfactory senses (Schooley & Wiens,
INTRODUCTION ϖ Background
Beetles are arthropods and generally classified as insects (General Biology, 2014). The flour beetle (Tribolium spp.) is commonly found in flour mills, food storage warehouses, and even homes, where it feeds upon flour and other grains (General Biology, 2014). Though flour beetles are harmless, they are a huge agricultural problem (General Biology, 2014). Due to their status as an agricultural pest, it is important to understand their behavior. Beetles behave differently in response to different environmental stimuli, called proximate causes, like light, wind movement, and availability of food; however, there are often underlying causes for these behaviors that have determined the evolutionary track of the beetle, called ultimate causes (General Biology, 2014). Beetles can also exhibit innate and learned behavior; innate behavior is a product of natural selection, as it has increased the survivability of the beetle over time. Furthermore, environmental conditions can influence the mating habits, growth rates, and amount of offspring produced (General Biology, 2014). Behavior is generally explained with the goal of survival in mind, or the need to eat, reproduce, communicate, and cooperate (General Biology, 2014). …show more content…
Schooley & Wiens tested the perceptual range and the movement behavior of cactus bug (Chelinidea vittiger), an insect and common pest among prickly pear cacti, finding a strong tendency to walk upwind in search of suitable patches (2003). C. vittiger’s tendency to orientate upwind is most likely due to their strong olfactory senses (Schooley & Wiens,