Dispersal is a key ecological process affecting community dynamics and the maintenance of populations. There is increasing awareness of the need to understand individual dispersal potential to better inform population-level dispersal, allowing more accurate models of the spread of invasive and beneficial insects, aiding crop and pest management strategies. Here, fine-scale movements of Poecilus cupreus, an important agricultural carabid predator, were recorded using a locomotion compensator and key movement characteristics were quantified. Net displacement increased more rapidly than predicted by a simple correlated random walk model with near ballistic behaviour observed. Individuals displayed a latent ability to head on a constant bearing for protracted time periods, despite no clear evidence of a population level global orientation bias. Intermittent bouts of movement and non-movement were observed, with both the frequency and duration of bouts of movement varying at the inter- and intra-individual level. Variation in movement behaviour was observed at both the inter- and intra- individual level. Analysis suggests that individuals have the potential to rapidly disperse over a wider area than predicted by simple movement models parametrised at the population level. This highlights the importance of considering the role of individual variation when analysing movement and attempting to predict dispersal distances.

中文翻译：

---

地面甲虫的行走行为，Poecilus cupreus：分散潜力，间歇性和个体差异

扩散是影响群落动态和种群维持的关键生态过程。人们越来越意识到需要了解个体传播潜力，以更好地了解种群水平的传播，从而建立更准确的入侵和有益昆虫传播模型，帮助作物和害虫管理策略。在这里，精细的运动鲅鱼, 一种重要的农业 carabid 捕食者, 使用运动补偿器记录下来, 并量化了关键的运动特征。净位移增加的速度比一个简单的相关随机游走模型预测的要快，观察到的接近弹道行为。尽管没有明确的证据表明人口水平的全球方向偏差，但个体表现出在长时间内保持恒定方向的潜在能力。观察到间歇性的运动和不运动，运动的频率和持续时间在个体间和个体内部水平上都不同。在个体间和个体内都观察到运动行为的变化。分析表明，个体有可能迅速分散到比在人口水平参数化的简单运动模型预测的更广泛的区域内。这突出了在分析运动和试图预测分散距离时考虑个体差异的重要性。