Project Intro

The effects of temperature on insect activity have been researched across taxa ranging from Diptera (Bowler & Terblanche, 2008) through Coleoptera and Lepidoptera (Briere et al., 1999) to Hymenoptera (Abou-Shaara, 2014). Throughout these orders, insects demonstrate the ability to detect temperature, which can help them perform tasks from determining foraging window timing (Vicens & Bosch, 2000) to finding the warmest location in a stack of wheat (Flinn & Hagstrum, 1998). Understanding the factors that influence insect behaviour is critical to advances in sustainable agriculture practices and conservation management. In this study, we analysed the effect of environmental temperature on the foraging behaviour of the large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus). In order to better preserve the Apocynaceae and Asclepiadaceae plant families (here collectively termed "milkweed") that are integral to the survival of many species including the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) (Flockhart et al., 2014) it is important to understand the foraging behaviour of the milkweed plant’s primary predators.