LAUSR

Understanding the capacity to fly long distances and colonize new areas is an important feature in the containment of pest insects. In a highly relevant study of functional morphology, Guo and colleagues investigate how flight muscle structure enables the longdistance migration in the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). They find an abundance of giant mitochondria and an extensive tracheolar system in the thorax flight muscles. Females with higher flight capacity have lower fecundity and flight capacity decreases after mating and with aging. This is an elegant demonstration of tradeoff between lifehistory traits: increased dispersal comes with decreased fecundity – two traits crucial for a true understanding of pest species population dynamics.