Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Entomology / James F. Campbell / James R. Nechols / Theoretical and empirical ecological research has emphasized the need for understanding
how animals perceive and respond to landscape structure and the importance of integrating both
behavioral and landscape approaches when studying movement behavior. Knowledge of insect
movement behavior is essential for understanding and modeling dispersal and population
structure and developing biologically-based integrated pest management programs. My
dissertation research addresses questions concerning how insects respond to landscape structure
by examining movement behavior of an important stored-product pest, red flour beetle
(Tribolium castaneum), in experimental landscapes.
Results show that beetles modify movement behavior depending on landscape structure.
Edge effects and interpatch distances may influence landscape viscosity, or the degree to which
landscape structure facilitates or impedes movement, resulting in significant differences in
velocity and tortuosity (amount of turning) of movement pathways, as well as retention time in
landscapes with different levels of habitat abundance and aggregation. Perceptual range, or the
distance from which habitat is detected, appears to be limited while beetles are moving in a
landscape as they did not respond to a flour resource before physical encounter. Beetles showed
differential responses to patches with various characteristics, entering covered patches more
quickly than uncovered patches with more resource or the same amount of resource.
Permeability of patches changed with subsequent encounters suggesting that full evaluation of
patch quality may only occur after entering a patch. Beetles responded to landscape structure
differently depending on the activity in which they were engaged. Distribution of movement pathways was similar to that of the habitat, but distribution of oviposition sites were significantly
more aggregated than pathways and habitat. Oviposition site choice may be influenced by a
complex set of factors which include previous visitation, amount of resource, travel costs, and
edge effects. Insights were gained concerning how red flour beetle perceives resources, modifies
search strategies, responds to boundaries, and chooses reproductive sites in patchy landscapes.
This research provides new information regarding how red flour beetle interacts with landscape
structure that has implications in the areas of behavioral and landscape ecology and applications
in stored-product insect ecology.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:KSU/oai:krex.k-state.edu:2097/417 |
| Date | January 1900 |
| Creators | Romero, Susan |
| Publisher | Kansas State University |
| Source Sets | K-State Research Exchange |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
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