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Flight-phase and visual-field related optomotor yaw responses in gregarious desert locusts during tethered flight

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Abstract

Tethered flying desert locusts, Schistocerca gregaria, generate yaw-torque in response to rotation of a radial grating located beneath them. By screening parts of the pattern, rotation of the unscreened grating turned out to induce a compensatory steering (by pattern motion within transversally oriented 90° wide sectors) as well as an upwind/downwind turning response (by pattern motion within the anterior ventral 90° wide sector). The strength and polarity of responses upon the unscreened grating results from a linear superposition of these two response components. The results are discussed with regard to a functional specialization of eye regions.

In a typical experiment, 3 consecutive flight-phases, assumed to mirror start, long-range flight, and landing of a free-flying locust, were distinguished. They may result from a time dependent variation of the polarity and relative strength of upwind/downwind turning and compensatory steering responses. Starting and landing phases were under strong optomotor control and were dominated by the high-gain compensatory steering. In contrast, the phase of long-range flight was under weak optomotor control resulting from a low gain in both of the two response components. The biological significance of this variable strength of optomotor control on free flight orientation of swarming locusts is discussed.

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  1. Zoologisches Institut und Zoologisches Museum, Universität Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, D-20146, Hamburg 13, Germany

    R. Preiss & P. Spork

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  1. R. Preiss
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  2. P. Spork
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Preiss, R., Spork, P. Flight-phase and visual-field related optomotor yaw responses in gregarious desert locusts during tethered flight. J Comp Physiol A 172, 733–740 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00195398

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