Summary
A review is given on field and laboratory studies, including intracellular recordings from the optic lobes, on the visually elicited escape response of a mangrove and a rocky shore crab. The crabs flee when the angular size of an approaching object has expanded by a critical value. Neurons which respond specifically to this stimulus were encountered in the lobula (internal medulla). Illusiory expansion produced by rotating spirals evokes no reaction. The results suggest a hypothesis on the underlying mechanism for looming detection. The direction of the crab’s escape can be understood as a compromise between a tendency away from the approaching object and towards a probable shelter since it can be described by a weighted vectorial summation of both components.
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Nalbach, HO. (1990). Visually Elicited Escape in Crabs. In: Wiese, K., Krenz, WD., Tautz, J., Reichert, H., Mulloney, B. (eds) Frontiers in Crustacean Neurobiology. Advances in Life Sciences. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-5689-8_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-5689-8_18
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel
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