1. Tracking devices have become small enough to be widely applied to arthropods to study their movement. However, possible side effects of these devices on arthropod performance and behaviour are rarely considered.
2. We performed a systematic review of 173 papers about research in which tracking devices—radio frequency identification (RFID), harmonic radar and radio telemetry tags—were attached to terrestrial arthropods. The impact of such tags was quantified in only 12% of the papers, while in 40% the potential impact was completely disregarded. Often‐cited rules of thumb for determining appropriate tag weight had either no empirical basis or were misconstrued.
3. Several properties of a tracking device (e.g. weight, balance, size, drag) can affect different aspects of an arthropod's life history (e.g. energy, movement, foraging, mating). The impact can differ among species and environments. Taken together, these tag effects can influence the reliability of obtained movement data and conclusions drawn from them. We argue that the impact of tracking devices on arthropods should be quantified for each (a) study species, (b) tag type, and (c) environmental context. As an example, we include a low‐effort impact study of the effect of an RFID tag on a digger wasp.
4. Technological advancements enable studying the movement of arthropods in unprecedented detail. However, we should adopt a more critical attitude towards the use of tracking devices on terrestrial arthropods. The benefits of tracking devices should be balanced against their potential side effects on arthropods and on the reliability of the resulting data.

中文翻译：

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跟踪设备对地面节肢动物的影响被忽略

1. 跟踪设备已经变得足够小，可以广泛应用于节肢动物以研究其运动。但是，很少考虑这些设备对节肢动物的性能和行为的可能的副作用。
2. 我们对173篇论文的研究进行了系统的综述，其中将跟踪设备（射频识别（RFID），谐波雷达和无线电遥测标签）连接到地面节肢动物上。仅在12％的论文中量化了此类标签的影响，而在40％的论文中，完全忽略了潜在的影响。通常，用于确定适当标签重量的经验法则没有经验依据或被误解了。
3. 跟踪设备的多个属性（例如重量，平衡，大小，阻力）会影响节肢动物的生活史的各个方面（例如能量，运动，觅食，交配）。影响在物种和环境之间可能不同。总之，这些标签效应会影响获得的运动数据和从中得出的结论的可靠性。我们认为，对于每种（a）研究物种，（b）标签类型和（c）环境背景，都应量化跟踪设备对节肢动物的影响。例如，我们包括一项对RFID标签对挖掘机黄蜂的影响的不费吹灰之力的研究。
4. 技术的进步使人们能够前所未有地研究节肢动物的运动。但是，我们应该对在地面节肢动物上使用跟踪设备采取更严格的态度。跟踪设备的好处应与它们对节肢动物的潜在副作用以及所得数据的可靠性保持平衡。