Tracking individual insect flights with harmonic radar

J.L.Osborne and A.D. Smith

Plant and Invertebrate Ecology Division, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK

A harmonic radar system for tracking individual flying insects at low altitude has now been used successfully on bumblebees, honeybees, butterflies and moths. A small transponder is attached to the dorsal thorax of an insect, and this is detected by the radar over a range of about 900 m (horizontally). The radar has provided novel insights into how individuals search for food resources in complex landscapes. It has also enabled us to answer questions about the navigational abilities of these insects whilst in flight.

To illustrate the power of this technique, examples are given of how honeybees, bumblebees and butterflies explore the landscape during their first flights, and how they exploit the landscape for food resources.

Paper presented at Measuring Behavior 2005 , 5^th International Conference on Methods and Techniques in Behavioral Research, 30 August - 2 September 2005, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

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