Abstract
Wingless blowflies (Phormia reginaMeigen)released on a flat uniform substrate hop repeatedly. The rate of hopping decreases with time. Decremental responsiveness resembles behavioral habituation. It can be reestablished by tactile stimulation and is due neither to muscle fatigue nor to sensory receptor adaptation. No effects of age or circadian rhythms were observed. The initial rate of hopping increases with increasing food deprivation, as does the time for waning to be completed. Decapitated flies and isolated wingless thoraxes hop almost as well as control flies and wane at the same rates.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Braun, G., and Bicker, G. (1992). Habituation of an appetitive reflex in the honey bee.J. Neurophysiol. 67: 588–598.
Carew, T. J., and Kandel, E. R. (1973). Acquisition and retention of long-term habituation inAplysia: Correlation of behavioral and cellular processes.Science 182: 1158–1160.
Castellucci, V. F., Carew, T. J., and Kandel, E. R. (1978). Cellular analysis of long-term habituation of the gill-withdrawal reflex ofAplysia californica.Science 202: 1306–1308.
Chadwick, L. E. (1953). The flight muscles and their control. In Roeder, K. D. (ed.)Insect Physiology, John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp. 648–651.
Dethier, V. G. (1952). Adaptation to chemical stimulation of the tarsal receptors of the blowfly.Biol. Bull. 103: 178–189.
Dethier, V. G. (1987). Sniff, flick, and pulse: An appreciation of interruption.Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 131: 159–176.
Dethier, V. G., Evans, D. R., and Rhoades, M. V. (1956). Some factors controlling the ingestion of carbohydrates by the blowfly.Biol. Bull. 111: 204–222.
Duerr, J. S., and Quinn, W. G. (1982). Three Drosophila mutations that block associative learning also affect habituation and sensitization.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 79: 3646–3650.
Evans, D. R., and Dethier, V. G. (1957). The regulation of taste thresholds for sugars in the blowfly.J. Insect Physiol. 1: 3–17.
Gelperin, A. (1966a). Investigation of a foregut receptor essential to taste threshold regulation in the blowfly.J. Insect Physiol. 12: 829–841.
Gelperin, A. (1966b). Control of crop emptying in the blowfly.J. Insect Physiol. 12: 331–345.
Getting, P. A. (1971). The sensory control of motor output in fly proboscis extension.Zeit. vergl. Physiol. 74: 103–120.
Green, G. W. (1964a). The control of spontaneous locomotor activity inPhormia regina. I. Locomotor activity patterns of intact flies.J. Insect Physiol. 10: 711–726.
Green, G. W. (1964b). The control of locomotor activity patterns inPhormia regina Meigen. II. Experiments to determine the mechanism involved.J. Insect Physiol. 10: 727–752.
Hassett, C. C., Dethier, V. G., and Gans, J. (1950). A comparison of nutritive values and taste thresholds of carbohydrates for the blowfly.Biol. Bull. 99: 446–453.
Helfand, S. L., and Carlson, J. R. (1989). Isolation and characterization of an olfactory mutant inDrosophila with a chemically specific defect.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86: 2908–2912.
Hinde, R. A. (1954). Factors governing the changes in strength of a partially inborn response, as shown by the mobbing behaviour of the chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs). II: The waning of the response.Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 142: 331–358.
Horn, G., and Hinde, R. A. (1970).Short-Term Changes in Neural Activity and Behaviour, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Hudson, A. (1958). The effect of flight on the taste threshold and carbohydrate utilization ofPhormia regina Meigen.J. Insect Physiol. 1: 293–304.
McKenna, M., Monte, P., Helfand, S., Woodward, C., and Carlson, J. (1989). A simple chemosensory response inDrosophila and the isolation ofacj mutants in which it is affected.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86: 8188–8192.
Menzel, R., Hammer, M., and Sugawa, M. (1989). Non-associative components of conditioning in honeybees. In Erber, J., Menzel, R., Pflueger, H.-J., and Todt, D. (eds.),Neural Mechanisms of Behavior, Thieme, Stuttgart, p. 221.
Mourier, H. (1965). The behaviour of house flies (Musca domestica L.) towards “new objects.”Vidensk. Medd. fra Dansk Naturh. Foren. 128: 221–231.
Thompson, R. F., and Spencer, W. A. (1966). Habituation.Psychol. Rev. 73: 16–43.
Thon, B. (1980). Habituation of cardiac and motor responses to a moving visual stimulus in the blowfly (Calliphora vomitoria).J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol. 94: 886–893.
Thon, B. (1981). Étude quantitative de la rétention de l'habituation de la réponse optocardiaque chezCalliphora vomitoria.Physiol. Behav. 26: 423–431.
Thon, B. (1987). Acquisition and retention of habituation as a function of intertrial interval during training in the blowfly.Behav. Process. 15: 47.
Thon, B., and Pauzic, A. (1984). Differential sensitization, retention, and generalization of habituation in two response systems in the blowfly (Calliphora vomitoria).J. Comp. Psychol. 98: 119–130.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dethier, V.G. Waning of repetitive hopping in the blowfly Phormia regina Meigen (Diptera: Calliphoridae). J Insect Behav 6, 497–510 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01049528
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01049528