The Flight Capacity of Dispersing Milkweed Beetles, Tetraopes tetraopthalmus1

Abstract

The flight capacity of dispersing milkweed beetles, Tetraopes tetraopthalmus (Forster) (Cerambycidae), was measured by using a still-air tethering technique and compared with the flight capacity of beetles randomly collected from source populations (milkweed patches). The mean flight duration of the dispersing group was 80 to 325% greater than that for any source population. These data attest to the validity of the tethered flight procedure.