Flight performance of Monochamus sartor and Monochamus sutor, two potential vectors of the pine wood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus was evaluated in laboratory flight mill tests. Beetles emerging from logs infested in the laboratory and incubated under outdoor conditions as well as field collected beetles were used. The maximum distance flown by M. sartor in a single flight was 3,136.7 m. Mean distances (per beetle) per flight ranged from 694.6 m in females to 872.5 m in males for M. sartor. In 75% of all individual flights M. sartor flew less than 1 km; only 3.7% flew distances longer than 2 km. The mean cumulative distance travelled by M. sartor beetles throughout their lifespan was 7.5 km. The smaller M. sutor beetles flew faster and longer distances. The maximum distance per flight was 5,556.5 m; mean distances ranged from 1,653.6 m in females to 1178.3 m in males. The number of available laboratory reared beetles was too low for quantification of lifetime flight capacity for M. sutor. The findings are compared to published data from Monochamus galloprovincialis recorded on the same type of flight mill as well as to field data from mark-release-recapture studies. The high flight capacity of Monochamus beetles illustrates the importance of considering dispersal of the vectors when planning control measures against the pine wood nematode.
