Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Tracking of animal movement provides important information regarding habitat choice, activity patterns, allocation of time for different activities etc. For large animals, technology has long been available through bio-telemetry, but entomologists have traditionally been restricted to the use of indirect methods, such as mark-recapture, Harmonic radar technology, originally invented to aid in locating avalanche victims, has been successfully adapted for use in tracking insect movement. The system normally used is based on a commercially available unit. I conduct research on plant-insect and inter-insect taxon interactions of primarily ground-dwelling or fairly stationary insect species. The ability to track the movement of individuals would facilitate a significant expansion in research allowing us to unravel hitherto unknown behaviors. Specifically, using harmonic radar tracking I will be able to investigate host choice mechanisms in the Warren root collar weevil, a relatively important pest of planted lodgepole pine, ant-ground beetle interactions which amy be critical for understanding community responses to anthropogenic disturbance, and movement patterns of the western conifer seed bug, the most important seed predator in conifer western Canadian seed orchards. The research enabled by this equipment will contribute significantly to training several graduate and undergraduate students. With collaborators in Sweden and Canada, I will be able to provide international experience, comparative studies, and advanced spatial analysis of behaviors exhibited by these insects.