How aphids fly: take off, free flight and implications for short and long distance migration
(2024)
Journal Article
All Outputs (97)
How aphids fly: Take‐off, free flight and implications for short and long distance migration (2024)
Journal Article
An introduction to high‐speed photography and its entomological impact is provided, emphasizing the importance of high frame rates and high resolution. The take‐off and free flight of Drepanosiphum platanoidis and Myzus persicae were studied in still... Read More about How aphids fly: Take‐off, free flight and implications for short and long distance migration.
Genome assembly and transcriptomic analysis to elucidate the ability of Nasonovia ribisnigri to break host plant resistance (2024)
Journal Article
Aphid genomic resources enable the study of complex life history traits and provide information on vector biology, host adaption and speciation. The currant–lettuce aphid (Nasonovia ribisnigri (Hemiptera: Aphididae) (Mosley)) is a cosmopolitan pest o... Read More about Genome assembly and transcriptomic analysis to elucidate the ability of Nasonovia ribisnigri to break host plant resistance.
Sources of prey availability data alter interpretation of outputs from prey choice null networks (2024)
Journal Article
Null models provide a valuable baseline against which fundamental ecological hypotheses can be tested and foraging choices that cannot be explained by neutral processes or sampling biases can be highlighted. In this way, null models can advance our u... Read More about Sources of prey availability data alter interpretation of outputs from prey choice null networks.
Temporal variation in spider trophic interactions is explained by the influence of weather on prey communities, web building and prey choice (2023)
Journal Article
Generalist invertebrate predators are sensitive to weather conditions, but the relationship between their trophic interactions and weather is poorly understood. This study investigates how weather affects the identity and frequency of spider trophic... Read More about Temporal variation in spider trophic interactions is explained by the influence of weather on prey communities, web building and prey choice.
Explainable neural networks for trait-based multispecies distribution modelling—A case study with butterflies and moths (2023)
Journal Article
Species response traits mediate environmental effects on species distribution. Traits are used in joint and multispecies distribution models (JSDMs and MSDMs) to enable community-wide shared parameters that characterise niche filtering along environm... Read More about Explainable neural networks for trait-based multispecies distribution modelling—A case study with butterflies and moths.
Long‐term trends in migrating Brassicogethes aeneus in the UK (2023)
Journal Article
BACKGROUND The pollen beetle (Brassicogethes aeneus) causes significant yield loss in oilseed rape (Brassica napus). Predicting population changes remains a scientific challenge, especially since its phenology and abundance varies dramatically over... Read More about Long‐term trends in migrating Brassicogethes aeneus in the UK.
Floral enhancement of arable field margins increases moth abundance and diversity (2023)
Journal Article
Moth populations have declined across large parts of north-western Europe since the mid-20th century due, in part, to agricultural intensification. Agri-environment schemes (AES) are widely implemented across Europe to protect biodiversity in agricul... Read More about Floral enhancement of arable field margins increases moth abundance and diversity.
A comprehensive sugar beet virus yellows model (2022)
Journal Article
Quantifying inherent predictability and spatial synchrony in the aphid vector Myzus persicae - field-scale patterns of abundance and regional forecasting error in the UK (2022)
Journal Article
Background Sugar beet is threatened by virus yellows, a disease complex vectored by aphids that reduces sugar content. We present an analysis of Myzus persicae population dynamics with and without neonicotinoid seed treatment. We use 6 years' yellow... Read More about Quantifying inherent predictability and spatial synchrony in the aphid vector Myzus persicae - field-scale patterns of abundance and regional forecasting error in the UK.
Demography of Common Swifts (Apus apus) breeding in the UK associated with local weather but not aphid biomass (2022)
Journal Article
In common with many other insectivorous birds, the Common Swift Apus apus is undergoing population declines, with an estimated 57% reduction in abundance between 1995 and 2017 in the UK. The ultimate drivers of this decline are poorly understood but... Read More about Demography of Common Swifts (Apus apus) breeding in the UK associated with local weather but not aphid biomass.
Disorder or a new order - How climate change affects phenological variability (2022)
Journal Article
Advancing spring phenology is a well documented consequence of anthropogenic climate change, but it is not well understood how climate change will affect the variability of phenology year to year. Species' phenological timings reflect the adaptation... Read More about Disorder or a new order - How climate change affects phenological variability.
Moth declines are most severe in broadleaf woodlands despite a net gain in habitat availability (2022)
Journal Article
While agricultural intensification and habitat loss are cited as key drivers of moth decline, these alone cannot explain declines observed in UK woodlands – a habitat that has expanded in area since 1968. We quantified how moth communities changed a... Read More about Moth declines are most severe in broadleaf woodlands despite a net gain in habitat availability.
Moth declines are most severe in broadleaf woodlands despite a net gain in habitat availability - data and code for analysis (2022)
Dataset
This collection of datasets and R code contains all that is necessary to repeat the analysis in the publication "Moth declines are most severe in broadleaf woodlands despite a net gain in habitat availability" - Blumgart et al. 2022. It contains moth... Read More about Moth declines are most severe in broadleaf woodlands despite a net gain in habitat availability - data and code for analysis.
Likelihood of Extreme Early Flight of Myzus persicae (Hemiptera: Aphididae) Across the UK (2022)
Journal Article
Density-independent prey choice, taxonomy, life history, and web characteristics determine the diet and biocontrol potential of spiders (Linyphiidae and Lycosidae) in cereal crops (2021)
Journal Article
Spiders are among the dominant invertebrate predators in agricultural systems and are significant regulators of insect pests. The precise dynamics of biocontrol of pests in the field are, however, poorly understood. This study investigates how densit... Read More about Density-independent prey choice, taxonomy, life history, and web characteristics determine the diet and biocontrol potential of spiders (Linyphiidae and Lycosidae) in cereal crops.
Resolving the identification of weak-flying insects during flight: a coupling between rigorous data processing and biology (2021)
Journal Article
Bioacoustic methods play an increasingly important role for the detection of insects in a range of surveillance and monitoring programmes. Weak-flying insects evade detection because they do not yield sufficient audio information to capture wingbeat... Read More about Resolving the identification of weak-flying insects during flight: a coupling between rigorous data processing and biology.
Using network ecology to understand and mitigate long‐term insect declines (2021)
Journal Article