Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36196552›Full record

ArticleBiology letters2022

Migratory hoverflies orientate north during spring migration.

Will L Hawkes, Scarlett T Weston, Holly Cook, Toby Doyle, Richard Massy, Eva Jimenez Guri, Rex E Wotton Jimenez, Karl R Wotton

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Biology letters, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Lords of the flies: dipteran migrants are diverse, abundant and ecologically important.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. The genome sequence of a hoverfly,Wellcome open research · 2024
    Article
  7. The genome sequence of the Vagrant Hoverfly,Wellcome open research · 2023
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Will L HawkesCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, UK.
Scarlett T WestonCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, UK.
Holly CookCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, UK.
Toby DoyleCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, UK.
Richard MassyCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, UK.
Eva Jimenez GuriCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, UK.
Rex E Wotton JimenezCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, UK.
Karl R WottonCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Migratory hoverflies are long-range migrants that, in the Northern Hemisphere, move seasonally to higher latitudes in the spring and lower latitudes in the autumn. The preferred migratory direction of hoverflies in the autumn has been the subject of radar and flight simulator studies, while spring migration has proved to be more difficult to characterize owing to a lack of ground observations. Consequently, the preferred migratory direction during spring has only been inferred from entomological radar studies and patterns of local abundance, and currently lacks ground confirmation. Here, during a springtime arrival of migratory insects onto the Isles of Scilly and mainland Cornwall, UK, we provide ground proof that spring hoverfly migrants have an innate northward preference. Captured migratory hoverflies displayed northward vanishing bearings when released under sunny conditions under both favourable wind and zero-wind conditions. In addition, and unlike autumn migrants, spring individuals were also able to orientate when the sun was obscured. Analysis of winds suggests an origin for insects arriving on the Isles of Scilly as being in western France. These findings of spring migration routes and preferred migration directions are likely to extend to the diverse set of insects found within the western European migratory assemblage.

Indexed as

Animal MigrationFlight, AnimalAnimalsHumansInsectaSeasonsWindinsect migrationorientationpollinatorspring migrationsyrphid

Identifiers

PMID36196552
PMCPMC9533008

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.