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The effect of microclimate on flying dipterans

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Abstract

The effect of the microclimate on the daily abundances of flying dipterans and the responses of the insects within their boundary layers have been assessed using suction traps and computer linked micro-meteorological outstations in a field experiment in northern England. Daily abundances of each family are very dependent upon the vagaries of the weather, and different families respond differently to the measured conditions; the temperature is most important for afternoon-flying families but for dusk- and night-flying families the wind speed is important, as are the climatic conditions earlier in the day. Small-bodied insects are much more sensitive to wind than are big-bodied insects. The results suggest that factors other than the measured physical ones are important in determining the distribution of flying Diptera within their boundary layers.

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Peng, R.K., Fletcher, C.R. & Sutton, S.L. The effect of microclimate on flying dipterans. Int J Biometeorol 36, 69–76 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01208916

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01208916

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