Forewing asymmetries during auditory avoidance in flying locusts

1997 ◽  
Vol 200 (17) ◽  
pp. 2323-2335 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Dawson ◽  
K Dawson-Scully ◽  
D Robert ◽  
R. M. Robertson

Flying locusts orient to sounds in their environment. Sounds similar to those produced by echolocating bats cause a flying locust to change its flight path. We used high-speed cinematography and videography to study changes in body posture and wing kinematics of tethered locusts in response to stimulation with bat-like sounds. Locusts showed both negative and positive phonotaxis to this stimulus. Within a few wingbeats of stimulus onset (between 126 and 226ms), locusts deflected their abdomens to one side, and the angle of the left and right forewings with respect to the dorsal­ventral body axis became asymmetrical during the downstroke. This forewing asymmetry, in which the forewing on the inside of the turn became more depressed, ranged from 20 to 45° (37±9.7°, mean ± s.d.) and was correlated with the direction and magnitude of abdomen deflection, a measure of steering in tethered, flying locusts. Hindwing stroke angle asymmetries were minimal or non-existent after stimulation. Coincident with changes in forewing asymmetry and abdomen deflection was a decrease in stroke amplitude (19±6.5°) of the forewing on the inside of the attempted turn. Motor patterns from forewing first basalar (M97) muscles showed an asymmetry in the timing of left and right depressor activation that ranged from 10.4 to 1.6ms (4.23±2.85ms). The number of spikes per depressor burst increased to a maximum of three spikes in the muscle on the inside of the attempted turn, and depressor frequency (wingbeat frequency) increased by approximately 2Hz (2.17±0.26Hz). We suggest that the asymmetry in forewing first basalar activity is causally related to the asymmetry in the timing of the initiation of the downstroke, resulting in an asymmetry in the ranges of the stroke angles of the forewings, which would impart a roll torque to the locust. This would augment the steering torques generated by concurrent changes in the angle of attack of the fore- and hindwings and changes in abdomen position to effect rapid avoidance manoeuvres.

1996 ◽  
Vol 199 (6) ◽  
pp. 1383-1393 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Robertson ◽  
C Kuhnert ◽  
J Dawson

In this paper, thermal avoidance in tethered flying locusts is described for the first time. Changes in body posture examined using high-speed cinematography revealed that the animals responded to a laterally positioned heat source with contralaterally directed abdomen and hindleg ruddering, behavioural patterns resembling manoeuvres observed in collision avoidance and in response to auditory signals. The analysis also showed that, during stimulation, left and right forewing depression became asymmetrical during the downstroke but remained symmetrical during the upstroke. Hindwing depression and elevation remained symmetrical during stimulus presentations. Electromyographic recordings from the left and right first basalar muscles (M97; forewing depressors) showed that contralateral depressor muscle activity was advanced by 10­12 ms relative to that on the stimulated side. There was also an increase in burst duration on the contralaterally stimulated side and an increase in wingbeat frequency of approximately 3 Hz. Ablation experiments showed that removal of the antennal flagella, which are the site of previously described thermoreceptors, did not abolish thermal avoidance manoeuvres. We conclude that thermal avoidance is triggered by an infrared sensitivity that is not mediated by the compound eyes, the ocelli or the antennal flagella.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 20160103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian T. Muijres ◽  
Nicole A. Iwasaki ◽  
Michael J. Elzinga ◽  
Johan M. Melis ◽  
Michael H. Dickinson

Using high-speed videography, we investigated how fruit flies compensate for unilateral wing damage, in which loss of area on one wing compromises both weight support and roll torque equilibrium. Our results show that flies control for unilateral damage by rolling their body towards the damaged wing and by adjusting the kinematics of both the intact and damaged wings. To compensate for the reduction in vertical lift force due to damage, flies elevate wingbeat frequency. Because this rise in frequency increases the flapping velocity of both wings, it has the undesired consequence of further increasing roll torque. To compensate for this effect, flies increase the stroke amplitude and advance the timing of pronation and supination of the damaged wing, while making the opposite adjustments on the intact wing. The resulting increase in force on the damaged wing and decrease in force on the intact wing function to maintain zero net roll torque. However, the bilaterally asymmetrical pattern of wing motion generates a finite lateral force, which flies balance by maintaining a constant body roll angle. Based on these results and additional experiments using a dynamically scaled robotic fly, we propose a simple bioinspired control algorithm for asymmetric wing damage.


1992 ◽  
Vol 163 (1) ◽  
pp. 231-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. MELDRUM ROBERTSON ◽  
DAVID N. REYE

1. Flying locusts will try to avoid colliding with objects directly in their flight path. This study investigated the wing movements and behaviour patterns associated with collision avoidance. 2. Tethered locusts were flown in a wind tunnel. Targets were transported at different speeds either directly towards the head of the animal or to one side of the midline but parallel to it. Changes in the form of the wingbeat for each of the wings were monitored using either a video camera or a high-speed ciné camera. 3. Animals attempted to avoid an impending collision by making movements interpreted here as (a) increasing lift to fly over the object, (b) gliding and extending the forelegs to land on the object, and (c) steering to one side of the object. Steering was monitored by observation of abdominal movements. 4. Steering to one side of an approaching target was reliably associated with an earlier and more pronounced pronation of the wings on the inside of the turn. Also, in the middle of the downstroke, the forewings were markedly asymmetrical. On the outside of the turn, the forewing was more elevated and separate from the hindwing. On the inside of the turn, the forewing was more depressed and often came down in conjunction with, or in advance of, the hindwing on that side. 5. The forewing asymmetry correlated with the position of the target such that most attempted turns were in the direction that would take the animal around the closest edge. High-speed cinematography showed that the asymmetry was caused both by changes in the timing of the two wings and by changes in the angular ranges of the wingbeats. 6. We propose that these changes in the form and timing of the wingbeats are likely to have swung the flight force vector around the long axis of the body to produce a banked turn around the closest edge of the object.


2001 ◽  
Vol 204 (24) ◽  
pp. 4213-4226
Author(s):  
Claire N. Balint ◽  
Michael H. Dickinson

SUMMARY Determining how the motor patterns of the nervous system are converted into the mechanical and behavioral output of the body is a central goal in the study of locomotion. In the case of dipteran flight, a population of small steering muscles controls many of the subtle changes in wing kinematics that allow flies to maneuver rapidly. We filmed the wing motion of tethered Calliphora vicina at high speed and simultaneously recorded multi-channel electromyographic signals from some of the prominent steering muscles in order to correlate kinematics with muscle activity. Using this analysis, we found that the timing of each spike in the basalare muscles was strongly correlated with changes in the deviation of the stroke plane during the downstroke. The relationship was non-linear such that the magnitude of the kinematic response to each muscle spike decreased with increasing levels of stroke deviation. This result suggests that downstroke deviation is controlled in part via the mechanical summation of basalare activity. We also found that interactions among the basalares and muscles III2–III4 determine the maximum forward amplitude of the wingstroke. In addition, activity in muscle I1 appears to participate in a wingbeat gearing mechanism, as previously proposed. Using these results, we have been able to correlate changes in wing kinematics with alteration in the spike rate, firing phase and combinatorial activity of identified steering muscles.


Author(s):  
O. I. Admakin ◽  
I. A. Solop ◽  
A. D. Oksentyuk

Relevance. The narrowing of the maxilla is one of the most common pathologies in orthodontics. Recent studies show that the narrowing is always asymmetric which is connected to the rotation of the maxilla. To choose the treatment correctly one need a calculation that reveals the asymmetry, which is impossible with using standard indexes.Purpose – to compare efficiency of indexes of Pont and Korkhause with the Kernott's method in patients with narrowing of the maxilla.Materials and methods. The study involved 35 children aged from 8 to 12 years old undergoing dental treatment in the University Children's Clinical Hospital of the First Moscow State Medical University with no comorbidities. For every patient a gypsum model was prepared and after that to carry out the biometrical calculation. In this study two indexes were used: Pont's index and Korkhause's; using this standard analysis the narrowing of the maxilla was revealed. After using Pont's Index and Korkhaus analysis all the models were calculated by the method of Kernott with Kernott's dynamic pentagon.Results. As a result of the analysis of the control diagnostic models a narrowing of the maxilla in 69% of cases (n = 24) was revealed in all cases, the deviation of the size of the dentition was asymmetric. Thus, 65% of the surveyed models showed a narrowing on the right. This narrowing was of a different severity and averaged 15 control models.Conclusions. This shows that for the biometrics of diagnostic models it is necessary to use methods that allow to estimate the width of the dentition rows on the left and on the right separately. To correct the asymmetric narrowing of the dentition, it is preferable to use non-classical expanding devices that act equally on the left and right sides separetly.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 593
Author(s):  
Ryota Yanagisawa ◽  
Shunsuke Shigaki ◽  
Kotaro Yasui ◽  
Dai Owaki ◽  
Yasuhiro Sugimoto ◽  
...  

In this study, we fabricated a novel wearable vibration sensor for insects and measured their wing flapping. An analysis of insect wing deformation in relation to changes in the environment plays an important role in understanding the underlying mechanism enabling insects to dynamically interact with their surrounding environment. It is common to use a high-speed camera to measure the wing flapping; however, it is difficult to analyze the feedback mechanism caused by the environmental changes caused by the flapping because this method applies an indirect measurement. Therefore, we propose the fabrication of a novel film sensor that is capable of measuring the changes in the wingbeat frequency of an insect. This novel sensor is composed of flat silver particles admixed with a silicone polymer, which changes the value of the resistor when a bending deformation occurs. As a result of attaching this sensor to the wings of a moth and a dragonfly and measuring the flapping of the wings, we were able to measure the frequency of the flapping with high accuracy. In addition, as a result of simultaneously measuring the relationship between the behavior of a moth during its search for an odor source and its wing flapping, it became clear that the frequency of the flapping changed depending on the frequency of the odor reception. From this result, a wearable film sensor for an insect that can measure the displacement of the body during a particular behavior was fabricated.


2014 ◽  
Vol 146 (5) ◽  
pp. 514-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hrabar ◽  
A. Danci ◽  
S. McCann ◽  
P.W. Schaefer ◽  
G. Gries

AbstractWe studied life history traits of Xenos peckii Kirby (Strepsiptera: Xenidae), a little-known parasite of the paper wasp Polistes fuscatus (Fabricus) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in North America. We field-collected 24 wasp nests in early July 2012, isolated parasitised wasps, tracked life history events of X. peckii, and recorded such behaviour as emergence of males and mating by normal-speed and high-speed cinematography. To emerge, males first cut the puparium with their mandibles along an ecdysial suture line, and then push aside the pupal cap during emergence. The endoparasitic females engage in active calling (pheromone release) behaviour by slowly inflating their cephalothorax, and then extruding it even farther out of, and tilting it away from, the host wasp abdomen. Seasonal and diel (afternoon) emergence periods of males coincide with seasonal and diel receptivity and calling periods of females. Males approach calling females in a swaying flight with smooth turns. They typically land on the anterior portion of the host wasp's abdomen, and then step backward until they make contact with the cephalothorax of the female. As soon as their mesothoracic legs contact the female's cephalothorax, they curl around it, and the male initiates mating. Thereafter, the female fully retreats and never re-mates.


1987 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross H. Sanders ◽  
Barry D. Wilson

This study investigated the in-flight rotation of elite 3m springboard divers by determining the angular momentum requirement about the transverse axis through the divers center of gravity (somersault axis) required to perform a forward 1 1/2 somersault with and without twist. Three elite male divers competing in the 1982 Commonwealth Games were filmed using high-speed cinematography while performing the forward 1 1/2 somersault in the pike position and the forward 1 1/2 somersault with one twist in a free position. The film was digitized to provide a kinematic description of each dive. An inclined axis technique appeared to be the predominant means of producing twist after takeoff from the board. The angular momentum about the somersault axis after takeoff was greater for the forward 1 1/2 somersault with twist than the forward 1 1/2 somersault without twist for all three divers. The difference in angular momentum between the two dives of each diver ranged from 6% to 19%. The most observable difference between the dives during the preflight phases was the degree of hip flexion at takeoff. There was more hip flexion at takeoff in 5132D than 103B for all three divers. This difference ranged from 9° to 18° (mean = 14°).


1989 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 435-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. McFarland ◽  
Robert Kennison

Music was played monaurally to 80 right-handed and 80 left-handed subjects. Right-handers reported more positive and less negative affect if the music was to the right ear. Left-handers reported experiencing more positive and less negative affect during music to the left ear. The hand × ear interaction was significant. The valence of emotional responses to the music seems influenced by a combination of at least two factors, (1) differences between left- and right-handers in the cerebral processing of emotional valence and (2) differences in the processing of emotional valence within each handedness group depending upon which hemisphere was initially most strongly engaged by the music. These results partially corroborate and extend the findings of previous studies in which briefer stimuli were presented tachistoscopically or dichotically. It is concluded that, while there is hemispheric asymmetry in the processing of emotional valence, the direction of the asymmetry may be associated with the handedness of the subjects.


1991 ◽  
Vol 159 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER C. WAINWRIGHT ◽  
DAVID M. KRAKLAU ◽  
ALBERT F. BENNETT

The kinematics of prey capture by the chamaeleonid lizard Chamaeleo oustaleti were studied using high-speed cinematography. Three feeding sequences from each of two individuals were analyzed for strike distances of 20 and 35 cm, at 30°C. Ten distances and angles were measured from sequential frames beginning approximately 0.5 s prior to tongue projection and continuing for about 1.0 s. Sixteen additional variables, documenting maximum excursions and the timing of events, were calculated from the kinematic profiles. Quantified descriptions of head, hyoid and tongue movements are presented. Previously unrecognized rapid protraction of the hyobranchial skeleton simultaneously with the onset of tongue projection was documented and it is proposed that this assists the accelerator muscle in powering tongue projection. Acceleration of the tongue occurred in about 20ms, reaching a maximum acceleration of 486 m s−2 and maximum velocity of 5.8m s−1 in 35 cm strikes. Deceleration of the tongue usually began within 5 ms before prey contract and the direction of tongue movement was reversed within 10 ms of prey contact. Retraction of the tongue, caused by shortening of the retractor muscles, reached a maximum velocity of 2.99 ms−1 and was complete 330 ms after prey contact. Projection distance influences many aspects of prey capture kinematics, particularly projection time, tongue retraction time and the extent of gape and head movements during tongue retraction, all of which are smaller in shorter feedings. Though several features of the chameleon strike have apparently been retained from lizards not capable of ballistic tongue projection, key differences are documented. Unlike members of a related family, the Agamidae, C. oustaleti uses no body lunge during prey capture, exhibits gape reduction during tongue projection and strongly depresses the head and jaws during tongue retraction. Note: Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.


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