Quantifying dispersal of a non-aggressive saprophytic bark beetle

We performed a mark-recapture experiment to examine patterns of adult dispersal in Hylurgus ligniperda (F.) (Coleoptera: Scolytinae), a non-aggressive, saprophytic bark beetle. The experiment took place in a clearcut pine, Pinus radiata D. Don forest in the central North Island, New Zealand, during February to May 2014. Both flight-naïve and flight-experienced H. ligniperda were released in the center of a circular trap grid that extended to 960 m with 170 or 200 panel traps baited with alpha-pinene and ethanol. Of the 18,464 marked H. ligniperda in 12 releases, 9,209 (49.9%) of the released beetles flew, and 96 (1.04%) of the beetles that flew were recaptured. Males and females were recaptured at all distances. The recapture of flight-experienced beetles declined with dispersal distance, and mechanistic diffusion models showed heterogeneous dispersal tendencies within the population. Our best model estimates that 46% (CI95: 19% - 63%) of flight-experienced beetles disperse > 1 km, a...