{"id":898,"date":"2024-06-12T12:03:08","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T12:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/12\/one-of-the-great-wonders-of-nature-insect-migration-superhighway-discovered\/"},"modified":"2024-06-12T12:03:08","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T12:03:08","slug":"one-of-the-great-wonders-of-nature-insect-migration-superhighway-discovered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/12\/one-of-the-great-wonders-of-nature-insect-migration-superhighway-discovered\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018One of the great wonders of nature\u2019: Insect migration superhighway discovered"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Researchers have found the route of one of Europe\u2019s busiest winter getaways \u2013 the annual migration of millions of insects heading south through a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees.<\/p>\n

Using video cameras and butterfly nets, researchers from the University of Exeter recorded an estimated 17 million flies, wasps, butterflies and dragonflies pouring through a single 30-metre-wide pass between two peaks on the border of France and Spain each autumn.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cTo see so many insects all moving purposefully in the same direction at the same time is truly one of the great wonders of nature,\u201d said Dr Karl Wooton, from Exeter\u2019s Centre for Ecology and Conservation, who led the research.<\/p>\n

The study found billions of insects probably buzz and flap their way over the Pyrenees annually.<\/p>\n

Many are making their way from their northern summer ranges including in the UK, to locations in southern Europe and north Africa where winters are milder.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The researchers had a clue that the 2,278-metre-high Pass of Bujaruelo was a major insect flyway.<\/p>\n

More than 70 years ago a pair of British ornithologists first recorded swarms of marmalade hoverflies pouring through the pass. The yellow and black striped flies are common throughout Europe \u2013 recent research has shown they can migrate 3,000km in autumn.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we found was truly remarkable,\u201d said William Hawkes from the University of Exeter who carried out the field recordings.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only were vast numbers of marmalade hoverflies still migrating through the pass, but far more besides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabbage white butterflies \u2013 common garden pests that even the researchers didn\u2019t know were long distance travellers until they recorded their presence \u2013 hummingbird hawk moths, various species of wasp and a spectacular number of flies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were some days when the number of flies was well over 3,000 individuals per metre, per minute,\u201d said Hawkes.<\/p>\n

Insect air traffic may be invisible, but it\u2019s an essential part of ecology.<\/p>\n

Nearly 90% of the insects the researchers recorded are pollinators. On their migration, they expand the gene pool of plants over vast distances.<\/p>\n

While some, like the cabbage white are pests, others are natural pest control. Many species of hoverflies have predatory larvae that control other insects like aphids.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the physical movement of tonnes of insect \u201cbiomass\u201d from one place to another. Not just prey for bats and birds, but once dead and fallen to the ground they are nutrients for other forms of life too.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy spreading the knowledge of these remarkable migrants, we can spread interest and determination to protect their habitats,\u201d said Mr Hawkes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on sky.com<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers have found the route of one of Europe\u2019s busiest winter getaways \u2013 the annual…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":899,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}