Airborne arthropods are often divided into active fliers, which travel under their own power, and passive drifters on air currents. Now Andy Reynolds of Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, UK, and a colleague announce that aphids and other small-winged insects should not be labelled passive, because they can control their altitude.
In simulations of air currents and aphid behaviour, results were closest to the observed distribution of aphids when the insects flew so as to magnify the effect of air movements. In updrafts, the authors claim, they fly just enough to counterbalance gravity. In downdrafts, they stop flapping and sink.
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Active aphids. Nature 455, 266 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/455266a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/455266a
