OOS 16-5
Sex and the single insect: The importance of mate-finding Allee effects
Insects that reproduce sexually must locate a suitable mate. Although many insect species have evolved efficient communication mechanisms to find each other, the number of reproductively viable individuals in a population can be an important constraint in the growth of populations. Consequently, many populations can be subject to a mate-finding Allee effect at low population densities. One of the more documented empirical examples of a mate-finding Allee effect and its broader consequences involves the non-native gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.), and its invasion of North America.
Results/Conclusions
The success of expanding gypsy moth populations has been shown to be affected by an Allee effect. In this talk, I will summarize the large body of evidence in which a mate-finding Allee effect in the gypsy moth system has been identified and quantified; how it interacts with landscape attributes that drive, for example, differences in reproductive synchrony; and how mate-finding Allee effects alter gypsy moth establishment success and invasion speed.