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Sex-biased and body condition dependent dispersal capacity in the endangered saproxylic beetle Osmoderma eremita (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae)

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Abstract

The dispersal capacity of rare and endangered insect species has rarely been estimated even though it is essential for their management. For these species, laboratory based experiments are considered more appropriate for determining dispersal capacity as well as the factors influencing it. We aimed to characterize dispersal capacity of the endangered saproxylic beetle Osmoderma eremita (Scopoli, 1763) (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae). We studied the influence of sex and body condition on several parameters of dispersal (seven parameters of flight capacity measured in laboratory and pre-flight behaviour observed in the wild). Tethered flight experiments, conducted on 30 individuals collected in several regions of France, revealed: (1) maximal single flight distance of 1,454 m and maximal total flight distance of 2,361 m; (2) higher flight capacity in females than males; (3) flight speed and take-off completion decreasing with increasing body condition only for females. Additionally, 32 individuals displaying pre-flight behaviour in the wild showed similar interacting influences of sex and body condition: females initiating pre-flight behaviour had lower body condition than males. Thus, males and females have different dispersal strategies. We propose that body condition influences on dispersal capacity should be considered for species conservation by, for instance, managing adult food resources at the landscape scale and need to be taken into account in introduction programmes.

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Acknowledgments

We owe special thanks to Olivier Martin (ISATIS Environnement), Cyrille van Meer and Thierry Noblecourt (ONF), Vincent Vignon (OGE), Cédric Doaré, Cécile Grimaldi and Nicolas Lebreton for valuable help in individual collecting. We are indebted to Jean-Sébastien Pierre (UMR CNRS 6553 EcoBio) and Manuel Plantegenest (UMR INRA 1099 BiO3P) for help in statistical analysis and access to SAS 9.1.3 software, and to Colin Hawes (RHUL), Hervé Jactel (UMR INRA 1202 BioGeCo), Eric Petit (UMR INRA 1099 BiO3P), Tim Shreeve (Oxford Brookes University), Thomas Ranius (SLU) and two anonymous reviewers for making improvements to the manuscript. We are grateful for the permissions that were granted to us by the prefectural office of Orne department (permission NOR-1122-2007-40120 of the 6th of July 2007), of Pyrénées-Atlantiques department (permission n°32/2007 of the 24th of May 2007) and of Sarthe department (permission n°07-2841 of the 6th of June 2007) to carry out collecting. This work was supported by the prefectural office of Sarthe department, DIREN Pays de la Loire, General Council of Sarthe department and Cofiroute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR 6553 CNRS, Université de Rennes 1, Équipe PaysaClim, Station Biologique, 35380, Paimpont, France

    Glenn F. Dubois, Yannick R. Delettre & Philippe Vernon

  2. UMR 6553 CNRS, Université de Rennes 1, Équipe Stratégies—Comportements—Adaptations, Station Biologique, 35380, Paimpont, France

    Pascaline J. Le Gouar

  3. Ecole d’Ingénieurs de Purpan, BP 57611, 75 voie du Toec, 31076, Toulouse Cedex 3, France

    Hervé Brustel

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  1. Glenn F. Dubois
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  5. Philippe Vernon
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Correspondence to Glenn F. Dubois.

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Dubois, G.F., Le Gouar, P.J., Delettre, Y.R. et al. Sex-biased and body condition dependent dispersal capacity in the endangered saproxylic beetle Osmoderma eremita (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae). J Insect Conserv 14, 679–687 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-010-9296-0

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