Preferred Wind Direction of Long-Distance Leafhopper (Empoasca fabae) Migrants and its Relevance to the Return Migration of Small Insects

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Abstract
(1) The problem of the long-distance, return migration to their overwintering region by weakly flying aeroplankton was investigated. Aircraft-mounted nets were used to sample for migrant potato leafhoppers at an altitude of 152 m above ground level along a transect in Central Pennsylvania during the summers of 1981 and 1982. (2) The wind most frequently associated with the potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae, migratory flight during June-September was from the north-northeast; the prevailing wind during the summer months is from the west. (3) The distribution of windspeed and direction during the sampling period was similar to the 30-year averages at c. 1500 m (850 mB) at Buffalo, New York [USA]. (4) In both years the peak leafhopper densities were associated with the passage of cold fronts from west to east. (5) It is postulated that the meteorological conditions associated with these frontal systems stimulate exodus flights of migrant leafhoppers at a monent most likely to facilitate a return to their southern overwintering sites.