Obstacles Influence Red Flour Beetle (Tribolium castaneum) Movement More Than Path Length or Turns

Movement is a fundamental aspect of animal behavior and ecology, playing an important role in survival and reproduction by enabling animals to locate food, find mates, evade predators, and explore new habitats. Various factors influence movement, including landscape complexity, physical obstacles, and animal morphology. In this study, we examined the movement patterns of flour beetles through three complementary experiments, assessing the effects of four environmental features—corridor length, corridor shape (straight vs. bent), obstacles, and narrow passage gaps. Our findings indicate that all environmental features influenced movement, though some had a stronger impact than others. Obstacles had a greater effect than either corridor length or turns. For instance, beetles traveled greater distances in obstructed straight corridors than in longer, unobstructed corridors. Similarly, turns increased movement distances and decreased movement speed more moderately than obstacles. Small passage gaps beyond a certain threshold functioned similarly to obstacles, restricting movement. These results highlight the influence of environmental features on beetle movement. Our results stress the importance of referring to landscape complexity in movement ecology and dispersal studies.