The visual control of landing and obstacle avoidance in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster
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1
California Institute of Technology, Control and Dynamical Systems, United States
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2
University of Washington, Biology, United States
Landing behavior is one of the most critical, yet least studied, aspects of insect flight. In order to safely land, an insect must recognize a visual feature, navigate towards it, decelerate, and extend its legs in preparation for touchdown. Although previous studies have focused on the visual stimuli that trigger these different components, the complete sequence has not been systematically studied in a free-flying animal. Using a real-time 3D tracking system in conjunction with high speed digital imaging, we were able to capture the landing sequences of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) from the moment they first steered toward a visual target, to the point of touchdown. This analysis was made possible by a custom-built feedback system that actively maintained the fly in the focus of the high speed camera. The results suggest that landing is comprised of three distinct behavioral modules. First, a fly actively turns towards a stationary target via a directed body saccade. Next, it begins to decelerate at a point determined by both the size of the visual target and its rate of expansion on the retina. Finally, the fly extends its legs when the visual target reaches a threshold retinal size of approximately 60°. Our data also let us compare landing sequences to flight trajectories that, although initially directed toward a visual target, did not result in landing. In these fly-by trajectories, flies steer toward the target but then exhibit a targeted aversive saccade when the target subtends a retinal size of approximately 33°. Collectively, the results provide insight into the organization of sensory motor modules that underlie the landing and search behaviors of insects.
Keywords:
insect flight,
landing,
obstacle avoidance,
visually guided navigation
Conference:
Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology, College Park. Maryland USA, United States, 5 Aug - 10 Aug, 2012.
Presentation Type:
Poster (but consider for participant symposium and student poster award)
Topic:
Sensorimotor Integration
Citation:
Van Breugel
F and
Dickinson
M
(2012). The visual control of landing and obstacle avoidance in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster.
Conference Abstract:
Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnbeh.2012.27.00173
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Received:
28 Apr 2012;
Published Online:
07 Jul 2012.
*
Correspondence:
Mr. Floris Van Breugel, California Institute of Technology, Control and Dynamical Systems, Seattle, WA, 98103, United States, floris@caltech.edu