Predicting sex bias in mobility from functional traits in flying insects

Understanding the movement patterns of organisms is crucial for effective biodiversity conservation in the increasingly dynamic and fragmented landscapes. Since the colonization of habitat patches relies largely on females, sex differences in movement capability must also be considered. However, obtaining direct measurements of mobility and dispersal, and sex biases in these traits, is often challenging. This underscores the importance of predicting sex-specific estimates of mobility based on species’ functional traits. Our phylogenetic comparative study aims at identifying species traits that could serve as proxies for sex bias in mobility in flying insects. We rely on a comprehensive dataset on the sex ratios of 454 moth species (Lepidoptera: Macroheterocera), captured by light traps of the Finnish national moth monitoring scheme. We first demonstrate that, in the vast majority of species, males outnumber females among the captured individuals. Our phylogenetic regression models revea..., Sex ratio data
We took advantage of a vast dataset generated by the Finnish Moth Monitoring Scheme 'Nocturna', which has been operating an extensive nationwide network of light traps for over three decades (Huikkonen et al. 2024). The essence of using light trapping in moth monitoring lies in the well-known habit of these nocturnal insects to be attracted to artificial light sources. The light traps deployed by the monitoring scheme cover the entire flight period of moths in the region; they are installed in early spring (early April to early May, depending on latitude) and dismantled in autumn after moths cease flying (early October to early November). The traps are typically serviced and emptied once a week, with all captured macroheteroceran moths identified to the species level by voluntary lepidopterists, and the number of individuals per species is reported in an online database.
Conveniently for our study, many contributors of the scheme systematically report the numbers of trapp..., , # Predicting sex bias in mobility from functional traits in flying insects

## Metadata

Data set creators: Tiit Teder, Juha Pöyry, Ida-Maria Huikkonen, Anna Suuronen, Reima Leinonen, Robert Barry Davis
Other contributors: Ants Kaasik, Toomas Tammaru
Date created: 10 September 2024

## Data and scripts supporting:

Teder, T., Davis, R.B., Pöyry, J., Huikkonen, I.-M., Suuronen, A., Leinonen, R., Kaasik, A., Tammaru, T. 2025. Predicting sex bias in mobility from functional traits in flying insects. Oikos.

## Licensing

This data set is covered by CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0).
Researchers interested in the re-use of this data set and corresponding R-code are expected to contact the authors for collaboration.

### Contact Information

Name: Tiit Teder
E-mail: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])
Affiliations:
Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu;
Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences ...,