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Gutiérrez D, Rigosi E, Nagloo N, O'Carroll D, Warrant EJ. Spatial resolution and optical sensitivity in the compound eyes of two common European wasps, Vespula germanica and Vespula vulgaris. J Exp Biol 2024; 227:jeb246670. [PMID: 39058380 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.246670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024]
Abstract
Vespula germanica and Vespula vulgaris are two common European wasps that have ecological and economic importance as a result of their artificial introduction into many different countries and environments. Their success has undoubtedly been aided by their capacity for visually guided hunting, foraging, learning and using visual cues in the context of homing and navigation. However, the visual systems of V. germanica and V. vulgaris have not received any deep attention. We used electrophysiology, together with optical and anatomical techniques, to measure the spatial resolution and optical sensitivity of the compound eyes of both species. We found that both wasps have high anatomical spatial resolution with narrow interommatidial angles (Δϕ between 1.0 and 1.5 deg) and a distinct acute zone in the fronto-ventral part of the eye. These narrow interommatidial angles are matched to photoreceptors having narrow angular sensitivities (acute zone acceptance angles Δρ below 1.3 deg), indicating eyes of high spatial resolution that are well suited to their ecological needs. Additionally, we found that both species possess an optical sensitivity that is typical of other day-flying hymenopterans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Gutiérrez
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, Lund, S-22362, Sweden
| | - Elisa Rigosi
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, Lund, S-22362, Sweden
| | - Nicolas Nagloo
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, Lund, S-22362, Sweden
| | - David O'Carroll
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, Lund, S-22362, Sweden
| | - Eric J Warrant
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, Lund, S-22362, Sweden
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2
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Nishiumi N, Fujioka E, Hiryu S. Bats integrate multiple echolocation and flight tactics to track prey. Curr Biol 2024; 34:2948-2956.e6. [PMID: 38917800 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2024] [Revised: 04/23/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024]
Abstract
The ability of "target tracking," such as keeping a target object in sight, is crucial for various activities. However, most sensing systems experience a certain degree of delay due to information processing, which challenges accurate target tracking. The long history of studies on animal behavior has revealed several tactics for it, although a systematic understanding of how individual tactics are combined into a strategy has not been reached. This study demonstrates a multifaceted tracking strategy in animals, which mitigates the adverse delay effects with small implementation costs. Using an active-sensing bat to measure their sensing state while chasing natural prey, we found that bats use a tracking strategy by combining multiple echolocation and flight tactics. The three echolocation tactics, namely the predictive control of sensing direction accompanied by adjusting the sensing rate and angular range, produce a direct compensation effect. Simultaneously, the flight tactic, the counter maneuver, assists echolocation by stabilizing the target direction. Our simulation results demonstrate that these combined tactics improve tracking accuracy over a wide range of delay constraints. In addition, a concise rule based on the angular velocity between bats and targets explains how bats control these tactics, suggesting that bats successfully reduce the burden of multitasking management. Our findings reveal the sophisticated strategy in animals' tracking systems and provide insights into understanding and developing efficiently integrated strategies in target tracking across various disciplines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nozomi Nishiumi
- National Institute for Basic Biology, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8787, Japan.
| | - Emyo Fujioka
- Organization for Research Initiatives and Development, Doshisha University, 1-3 Tatara Miyakodani, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0321, Japan
| | - Shizuko Hiryu
- Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, 1-3 Tatara Miyakodani, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0321, Japan
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3
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Ogawa Y, Nicholas S, Thyselius M, Leibbrandt R, Nowotny T, Knight JC, Nordström K. Descending neurons of the hoverfly respond to pursuits of artificial targets. Curr Biol 2023; 33:4392-4404.e5. [PMID: 37776861 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.08.091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 10/02/2023]
Abstract
Many animals use motion vision information to control dynamic behaviors. Predatory animals, for example, show an exquisite ability to detect rapidly moving prey, followed by pursuit and capture. Such target detection is not only used by predators but is also important in conspecific interactions, such as for male hoverflies defending their territories against conspecific intruders. Visual target detection is believed to be subserved by specialized target-tuned neurons found in a range of species, including vertebrates and arthropods. However, how these target-tuned neurons respond to actual pursuit trajectories is currently not well understood. To redress this, we recorded extracellularly from target-selective descending neurons (TSDNs) in male Eristalis tenax hoverflies. We show that they have dorso-frontal receptive fields with a preferred direction up and away from the visual midline. We reconstructed visual flow fields as experienced during pursuits of artificial targets (black beads). We recorded TSDN responses to six reconstructed pursuits and found that each neuron responded consistently at remarkably specific time points but that these time points differed between neurons. We found that the observed spike probability was correlated with the spike probability predicted from each neuron's receptive field and size tuning. Interestingly, however, the overall response rate was low, with individual neurons responding to only a small part of each reconstructed pursuit. In contrast, the TSDN population responded to substantially larger proportions of the pursuits but with lower probability. This large variation between neurons could be useful if different neurons control different parts of the behavioral output.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuri Ogawa
- Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Sarah Nicholas
- Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Malin Thyselius
- Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden; School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro 701 82, Sweden
| | - Richard Leibbrandt
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Thomas Nowotny
- School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK
| | - James C Knight
- School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK
| | - Karin Nordström
- Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia; Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden.
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Talley J, Pusdekar S, Feltenberger A, Ketner N, Evers J, Liu M, Gosh A, Palmer SE, Wardill TJ, Gonzalez-Bellido PT. Predictive saccades and decision making in the beetle-predating saffron robber fly. Curr Biol 2023:S0960-9822(23)00770-4. [PMID: 37379842 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Revised: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/30/2023]
Abstract
Internal predictions about the sensory consequences of self-motion, encoded by corollary discharge, are ubiquitous in the animal kingdom, including for fruit flies, dragonflies, and humans. In contrast, predicting the future location of an independently moving external target requires an internal model. With the use of internal models for predictive gaze control, vertebrate predatory species compensate for their sluggish visual systems and long sensorimotor latencies. This ability is crucial for the timely and accurate decisions that underpin a successful attack. Here, we directly demonstrate that the robber fly Laphria saffrana, a specialized beetle predator, also uses predictive gaze control when head tracking potential prey. Laphria uses this predictive ability to perform the difficult categorization and perceptual decision task of differentiating a beetle from other flying insects with a low spatial resolution retina. Specifically, we show that (1) this predictive behavior is part of a saccade-and-fixate strategy, (2) the relative target angular position and velocity, acquired during fixation, inform the subsequent predictive saccade, and (3) the predictive saccade provides Laphria with additional fixation time to sample the frequency of the prey's specular wing reflections. We also demonstrate that Laphria uses such wing reflections as a proxy for the wingbeat frequency of the potential prey and that consecutively flashing LEDs to produce apparent motion elicits attacks when the LED flicker frequency matches that of the beetle's wingbeat cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Talley
- Air Force Research Laboratory, Munitions Directorate, Eglin AFB, FL 32542, USA.
| | - Siddhant Pusdekar
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Aaron Feltenberger
- Air Force Research Laboratory, Munitions Directorate, Eglin AFB, FL 32542, USA
| | - Natalie Ketner
- Air Force Research Laboratory, Munitions Directorate, Eglin AFB, FL 32542, USA
| | - Johnny Evers
- Air Force Research Laboratory, Munitions Directorate, Eglin AFB, FL 32542, USA
| | - Molly Liu
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Atishya Gosh
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA; Department of Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Stephanie E Palmer
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Trevor J Wardill
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA; Department of Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Paloma T Gonzalez-Bellido
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA; Department of Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
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Harper T, Nemirovsky SI, Tomsic D, Sztarker J. Predatory behavior under monocular and binocular conditions in the semiterrestrial crab Neohelice granulata. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1186518. [PMID: 37304759 PMCID: PMC10248132 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1186518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Neohelice granulata crabs live in mudflats where they prey upon smaller crabs. Predatory behavior can be elicited in the laboratory by a dummy moving at ground level in an artificial arena. Previous research found that crabs do not use apparent dummy size nor its retinal speed as a criterion to initiate attacks, relying instead on actual size and distance to the target. To estimate the distance to an object on the ground, Neohelice could rely on angular declination below the horizon or, since they are broad-fronted with eye stalks far apart, on stereopsis. Unlike other animals, binocular vision does not widen the visual field of crabs since they already cover 360° monocularly. There exist nonetheless areas of the eye with increased resolution. Methods We tested how predatory responses towards the dummy changed when animals' vision was monocular (one eye occluded by opaque black paint) compared to binocular. Results Even though monocular crabs could still perform predatory behaviors, we found a steep reduction in the number of attacks. Predatory performance defined by the probability of completing the attacks and the success rate (the probability of making contact with the dummy once the attack was initiated) was impaired too. Monocular crabs tended to use frontal, ballistic jumps (lunge behavior) less, and the accuracy of those attacks was reduced. Monocular crabs used prey interception (moving toward the dummy while it approached the crab) more frequently, favoring attacks when the dummy was ipsilateral to the viewing eye. Instead, binocular crabs' responses were balanced in the right and left hemifields. Both groups mainly approached the dummy using the lateral field of view, securing speed of response. Conclusion Although two eyes are not strictly necessary for eliciting predatory responses, binocularity is associated with more frequent and precise attacks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Harper
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), Universidad de Buenos Aires, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Sergio Iván Nemirovsky
- Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN), CONICET, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Daniel Tomsic
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), Universidad de Buenos Aires, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular “Dr. Héctor Maldonado”, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Julieta Sztarker
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), Universidad de Buenos Aires, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular “Dr. Héctor Maldonado”, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Tan C, Cai X, Luo Z, Li Z, Xiu C, Chen Z, Bian L. Visual acuity of Empoasca onukii (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae). INSECTS 2023; 14:370. [PMID: 37103185 PMCID: PMC10145553 DOI: 10.3390/insects14040370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Revised: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Empoasca onukii is a common tea plant pest with a preference for the color yellow. Past work has shown that host leaf color is a key cue for habitat location for E. onukii. Before studying the effect of foliage shape, size, or texture on habitat localization, it is necessary to determine the visual acuity and effective viewing distance of E. onukii. In this study, a combination of 3D microscopy and X-ray microtomography showed that visual acuity did not significantly differ between females and males, but there were significant differences in the visual acuity and optical sensitivity among five regions of E. onukii's compound eyes. The dorsal ommatidia had the highest visual acuity at 0.28 cycles per degree (cpd) but the lowest optical sensitivity (0.02 μm2sr), which indicated a trade-off between visual resolution and optical sensitivity for E. onukii. The visual acuity determined from the behavioral experiment was 0.14 cpd; E. onukii exhibited low-resolution vision and could only distinguish the units in a yellow/red pattern within 30 cm. Therefore, visual acuity contributes to the limited ability of E. onukii to distinguish the visual details of a distant target, which might be perceived as a lump of blurred color of intermediate brightness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chang Tan
- Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, China
| | - Xiaoming Cai
- Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, China
- Key Laboratory of Tea Biology and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, China
| | - Zongxiu Luo
- Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, China
- Key Laboratory of Tea Biology and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, China
| | - Zhaoqun Li
- Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, China
- Key Laboratory of Tea Biology and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, China
| | - Chunli Xiu
- Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, China
- Key Laboratory of Tea Biology and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, China
| | - Zongmao Chen
- Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, China
- Key Laboratory of Tea Biology and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, China
| | - Lei Bian
- Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, China
- Key Laboratory of Tea Biology and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, China
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Yadipour M, Billah MA, Faruque IA. Optic flow enrichment via Drosophila head and retina motions to support inflight position regulation. J Theor Biol 2023; 562:111416. [PMID: 36681182 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2023.111416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Developing a functional description of the neural control circuits and visual feedback paths underlying insect flight behaviors is an active research area. Feedback controllers incorporating engineering models of the insect visual system outputs have described some flight behaviors, yet they do not explain how insects are able to stabilize their body position relative to nearby targets such as neighbors or forage sources, especially in challenging environments in which optic flow is poor. The insect experimental community is simultaneously recording a growing library of in-flight head and eye motions that may be linked to increased perception. This study develops a quantitative model of the optic flow experienced by a flying insect or robot during head yawing rotations (distinct from lateral peering motions in previous work) with a single other target in view. This study then applies a model of insect visuomotor feedback to show via analysis and simulation of five species that these head motions sufficiently enrich the optic flow and that the output feedback can provide relative position regulation relative to the single target (asymptotic stability). In the simplifying case of pure rotation relative to the body, theoretical analysis provides a stronger stability guarantee. The results are shown to be robust to anatomical neck angle limits and body vibrations, persist with more detailed Drosophila lateral-directional flight dynamics simulations, and generalize to recent retinal motion studies. Together, these results suggest that the optic flow enrichment provided by head or pseudopupil rotation could be used in an insect's neural processing circuit to enable position regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehdi Yadipour
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA.
| | - Md Arif Billah
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA.
| | - Imraan A Faruque
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA.
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Currea JP, Sondhi Y, Kawahara AY, Theobald J. Measuring compound eye optics with microscope and microCT images. Commun Biol 2023; 6:246. [PMID: 36882636 PMCID: PMC9992655 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04575-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/09/2023] Open
Abstract
With a great variety of shapes and sizes, compound eye morphologies give insight into visual ecology, development, and evolution, and inspire novel engineering. In contrast to our own camera-type eyes, compound eyes reveal their resolution, sensitivity, and field of view externally, provided they have spherical curvature and orthogonal ommatidia. Non-spherical compound eyes with skewed ommatidia require measuring internal structures, such as with MicroCT (µCT). Thus far, there is no efficient tool to characterize compound eye optics, from either 2D or 3D data, automatically. Here we present two open-source programs: (1) the ommatidia detecting algorithm (ODA), which measures ommatidia count and diameter in 2D images, and (2) a µCT pipeline (ODA-3D), which calculates anatomical acuity, sensitivity, and field of view across the eye by applying the ODA to 3D data. We validate these algorithms on images, images of replicas, and µCT eye scans from ants, fruit flies, moths, and a bee.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Paul Currea
- Integrative Biology and Physiology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
| | - Yash Sondhi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
- McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - Akito Y Kawahara
- McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - Jamie Theobald
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
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Thyselius M, Ogawa Y, Leibbrandt R, Wardill TJ, Gonzalez-Bellido PT, Nordström K. Hoverfly (Eristalis tenax) pursuit of artificial targets. J Exp Biol 2023; 226:289473. [PMID: 36695720 PMCID: PMC10088529 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.244895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The ability to visualize small moving objects is vital for the survival of many animals, as these could represent predators or prey. For example, predatory insects, including dragonflies, robber flies and killer flies, perform elegant, high-speed pursuits of both biological and artificial targets. Many non-predatory insects, including male hoverflies and blowflies, also pursue targets during territorial or courtship interactions. To date, most hoverfly pursuits have been studied outdoors. To investigate hoverfly (Eristalis tenax) pursuits under more controlled settings, we constructed an indoor arena that was large enough to encourage naturalistic behavior. We presented artificial beads of different sizes, moving at different speeds, and filmed pursuits with two cameras, allowing subsequent 3D reconstruction of the hoverfly and bead position as a function of time. We show that male E. tenax hoverflies are unlikely to use strict heuristic rules based on angular size or speed to determine when to start pursuit, at least in our indoor setting. We found that hoverflies pursued faster beads when the trajectory involved flying downwards towards the bead. Furthermore, we show that target pursuit behavior can be broken down into two stages. In the first stage, the hoverfly attempts to rapidly decreases the distance to the target by intercepting it at high speed. During the second stage, the hoverfly's forward speed is correlated with the speed of the bead, so that the hoverfly remains close, but without catching it. This may be similar to dragonfly shadowing behavior, previously coined 'motion camouflage'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malin Thyselius
- Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Yuri Ogawa
- Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Richard Leibbrandt
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Trevor J Wardill
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | | | - Karin Nordström
- Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden.,Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
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10
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Nordström K, Barron AB. Vision: Flies move their eyes. Curr Biol 2023; 33:R20-R22. [PMID: 36626857 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.11.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
As you are reading this text, your eyes scan across the page, even if you keep your head perfectly still. New research reveals that flies can perform analogous retinal movements, despite their eyes being rigidly fixed to their heads.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karin Nordström
- Neuroscience, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia; Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Andrew B Barron
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
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11
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Brighton CH, Kloepper LN, Harding CD, Larkman L, McGowan K, Zusi L, Taylor GK. Raptors avoid the confusion effect by targeting fixed points in dense aerial prey aggregations. Nat Commun 2022; 13:4778. [PMID: 35999203 PMCID: PMC9399121 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32354-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Collective behaviours are widely assumed to confuse predators, but empirical support for a confusion effect is often lacking, and its importance must depend on the predator’s targeting mechanism. Here we show that Swainson’s Hawks Buteo swainsoni and other raptors attacking swarming Mexican Free-tailed Bats Tadarida brasiliensis steer by turning towards a fixed point in space within the swarm, rather than by using closed-loop pursuit of any one individual. Any prey with which the predator is on a collision course will appear to remain on a constant bearing, so target selection emerges naturally from the geometry of a collision. Our results show how predators can simplify the demands on their sensory system by decoupling steering from target acquisition when capturing prey from a dense swarm. We anticipate that the same tactic will be used against flocks and schools across a wide range of taxa, in which case a confusion effect is paradoxically more likely to occur in attacks on sparse groups, for which steering and target acquisition cannot be decoupled. Flocking, schooling, and swarming prey are thought to benefit from a confusion effect. However, here the authors show that hawks attacking swarming bats avoid confusion by steering towards a fixed point in the swarm instead of targeting any one individual.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline H Brighton
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK.
| | - Laura N Kloepper
- Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Acoustics Research and Education, Spaulding Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA.,Department of Biology, Saint Mary's College, 262 Science Hall, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA
| | - Christian D Harding
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK.,Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics, University of Oxford, Sherrington Building, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PT, UK
| | - Lucy Larkman
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - Kathryn McGowan
- Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Acoustics Research and Education, Spaulding Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA
| | - Lillias Zusi
- Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Acoustics Research and Education, Spaulding Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA
| | - Graham K Taylor
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK.
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12
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DePiero VJ, Borghuis BG. Phase advancing is a common property of multiple neuron classes in the mouse retina. eNeuro 2022; 9:ENEURO.0270-22.2022. [PMID: 35995559 PMCID: PMC9450563 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0270-22.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral interactions with moving objects are challenged by response latencies within the sensory and motor nervous systems. In vision, the combined latency from phototransduction and synaptic transmission from the retina to central visual areas amounts to 50-100 ms, depending on stimulus conditions. Time required for generating appropriate motor output adds to this latency and further compounds the behavioral delay. Neuronal adaptations that help counter sensory latency within the retina have been demonstrated in some species, but how general these specializations are, and where in the circuitry they originate, remains unclear. To address this, we studied the timing of object motion-evoked responses at multiple signaling stages within the mouse retina using two-photon fluorescence calcium and glutamate imaging, targeted whole-cell electrophysiology, and computational modeling. We found that both ON and OFF-type ganglion cells, as well as the bipolar cells that innervate them, temporally advance the position encoding of a moving object and so help counter the inherent signaling delay in the retina. Model simulations show that this predictive capability is a direct consequence of the spatial extent of the cells' linear visual receptive field, with no apparent specialized circuits that help predict beyond it.Significance StatementSignal transduction and synaptic transmission within sensory signaling pathways costs time. Not a lot of time, just tens to a few hundred milliseconds depending on the sensory system, but enough to challenge fast behavioral interactions under dynamic stimulus conditions, like catching a moving fly. To counter neuronal delays, nervous systems of many species use anticipatory mechanisms. One such mechanism in the mammalian visual system helps predict the future position of a moving target through a process called phase advancing. Here we ask for functionally diverse neuron populations in the mouse retina how common is phase advancing and demonstrate that it is common and generated at multiple signaling stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor J DePiero
- Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
| | - Bart G Borghuis
- Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
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13
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Gonzalez-Bellido PT, Talley J, Buschbeck EK. Evolution of visual system specialization in predatory arthropods. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2022; 52:100914. [PMID: 35346895 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2022.100914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Revised: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Under strong selective pressure for survival, image-forming vision set off an ongoing predatory arms race 500 million years ago. Since then, and particularly so in the arthropods, predatory behavior has driven a myriad of eye adaptations that increase visual performance. In this review, we provide examples of how different arthropod predators have achieved improvements in key visual features such as spatial and temporal resolution of their retina. We then describe morphological, neural and behavioral strategies used by animals in this group to gather crucial information about the prey, such as its distance, velocity and size. We also highlight the importance of head and body tracking movements to aid in categorizing the potential prey, and briefly mention the ongoing work on the sensorimotor transformations necessary for target interception.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jennifer Talley
- Air Force Research Laboratory, Munitions Directorate, Eglin AFB, FL 32542, USA
| | - Elke K Buschbeck
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
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14
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Abstract
Autonomous robots are expected to perform a wide range of sophisticated tasks in complex, unknown environments. However, available onboard computing capabilities and algorithms represent a considerable obstacle to reaching higher levels of autonomy, especially as robots get smaller and the end of Moore's law approaches. Here, we argue that inspiration from insect intelligence is a promising alternative to classic methods in robotics for the artificial intelligence (AI) needed for the autonomy of small, mobile robots. The advantage of insect intelligence stems from its resource efficiency (or parsimony) especially in terms of power and mass. First, we discuss the main aspects of insect intelligence underlying this parsimony: embodiment, sensory-motor coordination, and swarming. Then, we take stock of where insect-inspired AI stands as an alternative to other approaches to important robotic tasks such as navigation and identify open challenges on the road to its more widespread adoption. Last, we reflect on the types of processors that are suitable for implementing insect-inspired AI, from more traditional ones such as microcontrollers and field-programmable gate arrays to unconventional neuromorphic processors. We argue that even for neuromorphic processors, one should not simply apply existing AI algorithms but exploit insights from natural insect intelligence to get maximally efficient AI for robot autonomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- G C H E de Croon
- Micro Air Vehicle Laboratory, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, TU Delft, Delft, Netherlands
| | - J J G Dupeyroux
- Micro Air Vehicle Laboratory, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, TU Delft, Delft, Netherlands
| | - S B Fuller
- Autonomous Insect Robotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - J A R Marshall
- Opteran Technologies, Sheffield, UK
- Complex Systems Modeling Group, Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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15
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Evans BJE, O’Carroll DC, Fabian JM, Wiederman SD. Dragonfly Neurons Selectively Attend to Targets Within Natural Scenes. Front Cell Neurosci 2022; 16:857071. [PMID: 35450210 PMCID: PMC9017788 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2022.857071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Aerial predators, such as the dragonfly, determine the position and movement of their prey even when both are moving through complex, natural scenes. This task is likely supported by a group of neurons in the optic lobe which respond to moving targets that subtend less than a few degrees. These Small Target Motion Detector (STMD) neurons are tuned to both target size and velocity, whilst also exhibiting facilitated responses to targets traveling along continuous trajectories. When presented with a pair of targets, some STMDs generate spiking activity that represent a competitive selection of one target, as if the alternative does not exist (i.e., selective attention). Here, we describe intracellular responses of CSTMD1 (an identified STMD) to the visual presentation of targets embedded within cluttered, natural scenes. We examine CSTMD1 response changes to target contrast, as well as a range of target and background velocities. We find that background motion affects CSTMD1 responses via the competitive selection between features within the natural scene. Here, robust discrimination of our artificially embedded "target" is limited to scenarios when its velocity is matched to, or greater than, the background velocity. Additionally, the background's direction of motion affects discriminability, though not in the manner observed in STMDs of other flying insects. Our results highlight that CSTMD1's competitive responses are to those features best matched to the neuron's underlying spatiotemporal tuning, whether from the embedded target or other features in the background clutter. In many scenarios, CSTMD1 responds robustly to targets moving through cluttered scenes. However, whether this neuronal system could underlie the task of competitively selecting slow moving prey against fast-moving backgrounds remains an open question.
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16
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Fabian ST, Sumner ME, Wardill TJ, Gonzalez-Bellido PT. Avoiding obstacles while intercepting a moving target: a miniature fly's solution. J Exp Biol 2022; 225:274211. [PMID: 35168251 PMCID: PMC8920034 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The miniature robber fly Holcocephala fusca intercepts its targets with behaviour that is approximated by the proportional navigation guidance law. During predatory trials, we challenged the interception of H. fusca performance by placing a large object in its potential flight path. In response, H. fusca deviated from the path predicted by pure proportional navigation, but in many cases still eventually contacted the target. We show that such flight deviations can be explained as the output of two competing navigational systems: pure-proportional navigation and a simple obstacle avoidance algorithm. Obstacle avoidance by H. fusca is here described by a simple feedback loop that uses the visual expansion of the approaching obstacle to mediate the magnitude of the turning-away response. We name the integration of this steering law with proportional navigation 'combined guidance'. The results demonstrate that predatory intent does not operate a monopoly on the fly's steering when attacking a target, and that simple guidance combinations can explain obstacle avoidance during interceptive tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel T Fabian
- Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EG, UK.,Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Mary E Sumner
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Trevor J Wardill
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
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17
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Azorsa F, Muscedere ML, Traniello JFA. Socioecology and Evolutionary Neurobiology of Predatory Ants. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.804200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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18
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Abstract
This paper presents a two-dimensional mathematical model of compound eye vision. Such a model is useful for solving navigation issues for autonomous mobile robots on the ground plane. The model is inspired by the insect compound eye that consists of ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units, each of which combines a cornea, lens, and rhabdom. The model describes the planar binocular compound eye vision, focusing on measuring distance and azimuth to a circular feature with an arbitrary size. The model provides a necessary and sufficient condition for the visibility of a circular feature by each ommatidium. On this basis, an algorithm is built for generating a training data set to create two deep neural networks (DNN): the first detects the distance, and the second detects the azimuth to a circular feature. The hyperparameter tuning and the configurations of both networks are described. Experimental results showed that the proposed method could effectively and accurately detect the distance and azimuth to objects.
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19
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Pichaud F, Casares F. Shaping an optical dome: The size and shape of the insect compound eye. Semin Cell Dev Biol 2021; 130:37-44. [PMID: 34810110 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2021.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Revised: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
The insect compound eye is the most abundant eye architecture on earth. It comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, which are exquisitely adapted to specific ecosystems. Here, we explore the organisational principles and pathways, from molecular to tissular, that underpin the building of this organ and highlight why it is an excellent model system to investigate the relationship between genes and tissue form. The compound eye offers wide fields of view, high sensitivity in motion detection and infinite depth of field. It is made of an array of visual units called ommatidia, which are precisely tiled in 3D to shape the retinal tissue as a dome-like structure. The eye starts off as a 2D epithelium, and it acquires its 3D organisation as ommatidia get into shape. Each ommatidium is made of a complement of retinal cells, including light-detecting photoreceptors and lens-secreting cells. The lens cells generate the typical hexagonal facet lens that lies atop the photoreceptors so that the eye surface consists of a quasi-crystalline array of these hexagonal facet-lenses. This array is curved to various degree, depending on the size and shape of the eye, and on the region of the retina. This curvature sets the resolution and visual field of the eye and is determined by i) the number and size of the facet lens - large ommatidial lenses can be used to generate flat, higher resolution areas, while smaller facets allow for stronger curvature of the eye, and ii) precise control of the inter facet-lens angle, which determines the optical axis of the each ommatidium. In this review we discuss how combinatorial variation in eye primordium shape, ommatidial number, facet lens size and inter facet-lens angle underpins the wide variety of insect eye shapes, and we explore what is known about the mechanisms that might control these parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franck Pichaud
- MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology (LMCB), University College London, WC1E 6BT London, United Kingdom.
| | - Fernando Casares
- CABD-Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo, CSIC-Universidad Pablo de Olavide, ES-41013 Seville, Spain.
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20
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Bernier PM, Mathew J, Danion FR. Composition and decomposition of visuomotor maps during manual tracking. J Neurophysiol 2021; 126:1685-1697. [PMID: 34614368 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00058.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Adapting hand movements to changes in our body or the environment is essential for skilled motor behavior, as is the ability to flexibly combine experience gathered in separate contexts. However, it has been shown that when adapting hand movements to two different visuomotor perturbations in succession, interference effects can occur. Here, we investigate whether these interference effects compromise our ability to adapt to the superposition of the two perturbations. Participants tracked with a joystick, a visual target that followed a smooth but an unpredictable trajectory. Four separate groups of participants (total n = 83) completed one block of 50 trials under each of three mappings: one in which the cursor was rotated by 90° (ROTATION), one in which the cursor mimicked the behavior of a mass-spring system (SPRING), and one in which the SPRING and ROTATION mappings were superimposed (SPROT). The order of the blocks differed across groups. Although interference effects were found when switching between SPRING and ROTATION, participants who performed these blocks first performed better in SPROT than participants who had no prior experience with SPRING and ROTATION (i.e., composition). Moreover, participants who started with SPROT exhibited better performance under SPRING and ROTATION than participants who had no prior experience with each of these mappings (i.e., decomposition). Additional analyses confirmed that these effects resulted from components of learning that were specific to the rotational and spring perturbations. These results show that interference effects do not preclude the ability to compose/decompose various forms of visuomotor adaptation.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The ability to compose/decompose task representations is critical for both cognitive and behavioral flexibility. Here, we show that this ability extends to two forms of visuomotor adaptation in which humans have to perform visually guided hand movements. Despite the presence of interference effects when switching between visuomotor maps, we show that participants are able to flexibly compose or decompose knowledge acquired in previous sessions. These results further demonstrate the flexibility of sensorimotor adaptation in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre-Michel Bernier
- Département de Kinanthropologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
| | - James Mathew
- Institut Neurosci Timone, Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, INT, Marseille, France.,Institute of Neuroscience, Institute of Communication & Information Technologies, Electronics & Applied Mathematics, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium
| | - Frederic R Danion
- Institut Neurosci Timone, Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, INT, Marseille, France.,Center for Research on Cognition and Learning (CERCA) UMR 7295, University of Poitiers, CNRS, Poitiers, France
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21
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Morphological and electrophysiological specializations of photoreceptors in the love spot of hover fly Volucella pellucens. Vis Neurosci 2021; 38:E015. [PMID: 34635193 DOI: 10.1017/s0952523821000146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Studies of functional variability in the compound eyes of flies reveal superior temporal resolution of photoreceptors from the frontal areas that mediate binocular vision, and in males mate recognition and pursuit. However, the mechanisms underlying differences in performance are not known. Here, we investigated properties of hover fly Volucella pellucens photoreceptors from two regions of the retina, the frontal-dorsal "love spot" and the lateral one. Morphologically, the microvilli of the frontal-dorsal photoreceptors were relatively few in number per rhabdomere cross-section, short and narrow. In electrophysiological experiments involving stimulation with prolonged white-noise and natural time intensity series, frontal-dorsal photoreceptors demonstrated comparatively high corner frequencies and information rates. Investigation of possible mechanisms responsible for their superior performance revealed significant differences in the properties of quantum bumps, and, unexpectedly, relatively high absolute sensitivity of the frontal-dorsal photoreceptors. Analysis of light adaptation indicated that photoreceptors from two regions adapt similarly but because frontal-dorsal photoreceptors were depolarized much stronger by the same stimuli than the lateral photoreceptors, they reached a deeper state of adaptation associated with higher corner frequencies of light response. Recordings from the photoreceptor axons were characterized by spike-like events that can significantly expand the frequency response range. Seamless integration of spikes into the graded voltage responses was enabled by light adaptation mechanisms that accelerate kinetics and decrease duration of depolarizing light response transients.
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22
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Martin BT, Gil MA, Fahimipour AK, Hein AM. Informational constraints on predator–prey interactions. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin T. Martin
- Univ. of Amsterdam, Dept of Theoretical and Computational Ecology Amsterdam the Netherlands
| | - Michael A. Gil
- Univ. of Colorado Boulder, Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Boulder CO USA
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southwest Fisheries Science Center Santa Cruz CA USA
- Inst. of Marine Sciences, Univ. of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz CA USA
| | - Ashkaan K. Fahimipour
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southwest Fisheries Science Center Santa Cruz CA USA
| | - Andrew M. Hein
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southwest Fisheries Science Center Santa Cruz CA USA
- Inst. of Marine Sciences, Univ. of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz CA USA
- Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Univ. of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz CA USA
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23
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Hein AM, Altshuler DL, Cade DE, Liao JC, Martin BT, Taylor GK. An Algorithmic Approach to Natural Behavior. Curr Biol 2021; 30:R663-R675. [PMID: 32516620 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Uncovering the mechanisms and implications of natural behavior is a goal that unites many fields of biology. Yet, the diversity, flexibility, and multi-scale nature of these behaviors often make understanding elusive. Here, we review studies of animal pursuit and evasion - two special classes of behavior where theory-driven experiments and new modeling techniques are beginning to uncover the general control principles underlying natural behavior. A key finding of these studies is that intricate sequences of pursuit and evasion behavior can often be constructed through simple, repeatable rules that link sensory input to motor output: we refer to these rules as behavioral algorithms. Identifying and mathematically characterizing these algorithms has led to important insights, including the discovery of guidance rules that attacking predators use to intercept mobile prey, and coordinated neural and biomechanical mechanisms that animals use to avoid impending collisions. Here, we argue that algorithms provide a good starting point for studies of natural behavior more generally. Rather than beginning at the neural or ecological levels of organization, we advocate starting in the middle, where the algorithms that link sensory input to behavioral output can provide a solid foundation from which to explore both the implementation and the ecological outcomes of behavior. We review insights that have been gained through such an algorithmic approach to pursuit and evasion behaviors. From these, we synthesize theoretical principles and lay out key modeling tools needed to apply an algorithmic approach to the study of other complex natural behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew M Hein
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA; Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA.
| | - Douglas L Altshuler
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z4, Canada
| | - David E Cade
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA; Hopkins Marine Station, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
| | - James C Liao
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, Department of Biology, University of Florida, 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., St. Augustine, FL 32080, USA
| | - Benjamin T Martin
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA; Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA; Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Graham K Taylor
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
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24
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Abstract
Time is largely a hidden variable in vision. It is the condition for seeing interesting things such as spatial forms and patterns, colours and movements in the external world, and yet is not meant to be noticed in itself. Temporal aspects of visual processing have received comparatively little attention in research. Temporal properties have been made explicit mainly in measurements of resolution and integration in simple tasks such as detection of spatially homogeneous flicker or light pulses of varying duration. Only through a mechanistic understanding of their basis in retinal photoreceptors and circuits can such measures guide modelling of natural vision in different species and illuminate functional and evolutionary trade-offs. Temporal vision research would benefit from bridging traditions that speak different languages. Towards that goal, I here review studies from the fields of human psychophysics, retinal physiology and neuroethology, with a focus on fundamental constraints set by early vision. Summary: Simple measures of temporal vision such as the critical flicker frequency can be useful for modelling natural vision only if their relationship to photoreceptor responses and retinal processing is understood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristian Donner
- Molecular and Integrative Biosciences Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
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25
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Rossoni S, Fabian ST, Sutton GP, Gonzalez-Bellido PT. Gravity and active acceleration limit the ability of killer flies ( Coenosia attenuata) to steer towards prey when attacking from above. J R Soc Interface 2021; 18:20210058. [PMID: 34034531 PMCID: PMC8150022 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Insects that predate aerially usually contrast prey against the sky and attack upwards. However, killer flies (Coenosia attenuata) can attack prey flying below them, performing what we term 'aerial dives'. During these dives, killer flies accelerate up to 36 m s-2. Although the trajectories of the killer fly's dives appear highly variable, proportional navigation explains them, as long as the model has the lateral acceleration limit of a real killer fly. The trajectory's steepness is explained by the initial geometry of engagement; steep attacks result from the killer fly taking off when the target is approaching the predator. Under such circumstances, the killer fly dives almost vertically towards the target, and gravity significantly increases its acceleration. Although killer flies usually time their take-off to minimize flight duration, during aerial dives killer flies cannot reach the lateral accelerations necessary to match the increase in speed caused by gravity. Since a close miss still leads the predator closer to the target, and might even slow the prey down, there may not be a selective pressure for killer flies to account for gravity during aerial dives.
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Affiliation(s)
- S. Rossoni
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - S. T. Fabian
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EL, UK
| | - G. P. Sutton
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK
| | - P. T. Gonzalez-Bellido
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
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26
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Yoo SBM, Tu JC, Hayden BY. Multicentric tracking of multiple agents by anterior cingulate cortex during pursuit and evasion. Nat Commun 2021; 12:1985. [PMID: 33790275 PMCID: PMC8012621 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22195-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2020] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Successful pursuit and evasion require rapid and precise coordination of navigation with adaptive motor control. We hypothesize that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), which communicates bidirectionally with both the hippocampal complex and premotor/motor areas, would serve a mapping role in this process. We recorded responses of dACC ensembles in two macaques performing a joystick-controlled continuous pursuit/evasion task. We find that dACC carries two sets of signals, (1) world-centric variables that together form a representation of the position and velocity of all relevant agents (self, prey, and predator) in the virtual world, and (2) avatar-centric variables, i.e. self-prey distance and angle. Both sets of variables are multiplexed within an overlapping set of neurons. Our results suggest that dACC may contribute to pursuit and evasion by computing and continuously updating a multicentric representation of the unfolding task state, and support the hypothesis that it plays a high-level abstract role in the control of behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seng Bum Michael Yoo
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, and Center for Neuroengineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. .,Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, Republic of Korea. .,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea. .,Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institution of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Jiaxin Cindy Tu
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, and Center for Neuroengineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.,Department of Neuroscience, Washington University at St.Louis, St.Louis, MO, USA
| | - Benjamin Yost Hayden
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, and Center for Neuroengineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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27
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Abstract
Insectivorous bats capture their prey in flight with impressive success. They rely on the echoes of their own ultrasonic vocalization that yield acoustic snapshots, which enable target tracking on a rapid time scale. This task requires the use of intermittent information to navigate a dynamically changing environment. Bats may solve this challenging task by building internal models that estimate target velocity to anticipate the future location of a prey item. This has been recently tested empirically in perched bats tracking a target moving across their acoustic field. In this report, we build on past work to propose a new model that describes bat flight trajectories employing predictive strategies. Furthermore, we compare this model with a previous model of bat target interception that has also been employed by some visually guided animals: parallel navigation. Abbreviations: HTTP, Hybrid Target Trajectory Prediction; CATD, Constant Absolute Target Direction; CB, Constant Bearing; PN, Parallel Navigation
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Affiliation(s)
- Angeles Salles
- Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Clarice A Diebold
- Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Cynthia F Moss
- Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
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28
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Meece M, Rathore S, Buschbeck EK. Stark trade-offs and elegant solutions in arthropod visual systems. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:224/4/jeb215541. [PMID: 33632851 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.215541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Vision is one of the most important senses for humans and animals alike. Diverse elegant specializations have evolved among insects and other arthropods in response to specific visual challenges and ecological needs. These specializations are the subject of this Review, and they are best understood in light of the physical limitations of vision. For example, to achieve high spatial resolution, fine sampling in different directions is necessary, as demonstrated by the well-studied large eyes of dragonflies. However, it has recently been shown that a comparatively tiny robber fly (Holcocephala) has similarly high visual resolution in the frontal visual field, despite their eyes being a fraction of the size of those of dragonflies. Other visual specializations in arthropods include the ability to discern colors, which relies on parallel inputs that are tuned to spectral content. Color vision is important for detection of objects such as mates, flowers and oviposition sites, and is particularly well developed in butterflies, stomatopods and jumping spiders. Analogous to color vision, the visual systems of many arthropods are specialized for the detection of polarized light, which in addition to communication with conspecifics, can be used for orientation and navigation. For vision in low light, optical superposition compound eyes perform particularly well. Other modifications to maximize photon capture involve large lenses, stout photoreceptors and, as has been suggested for nocturnal bees, the neural pooling of information. Extreme adaptations even allow insects to see colors at very low light levels or to navigate using the Milky Way.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Meece
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
| | - Shubham Rathore
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
| | - Elke K Buschbeck
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
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29
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Gonsek A, Jeschke M, Rönnau S, Bertrand OJN. From Paths to Routes: A Method for Path Classification. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 14:610560. [PMID: 33551764 PMCID: PMC7859641 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.610560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Many animals establish, learn and optimize routes between locations to commute efficiently. One step in understanding route following is defining measures of similarities between the paths taken by the animals. Paths have commonly been compared by using several descriptors (e.g., the speed, distance traveled, or the amount of meandering) or were visually classified into categories by the experimenters. However, similar quantities obtained from such descriptors do not guarantee similar paths, and qualitative classification by experimenters is prone to observer biases. Here we propose a novel method to classify paths based on their similarity with different distance functions and clustering algorithms based on the trajectories of bumblebees flying through a cluttered environment. We established a method based on two distance functions (Dynamic Time Warping and Fréchet Distance). For all combinations of trajectories, the distance was calculated with each measure. Based on these distance values, we grouped similar trajectories by applying the Monte Carlo Reference-Based Consensus Clustering algorithm. Our procedure provides new options for trajectory analysis based on path similarities in a variety of experimental paradigms.
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Feller KD, Sharkey CR, McDuffee-Altekruse A, Bracken-Grissom HD, Lord NP, Porter ML, Schweikert LE. Surf and turf vision: Patterns and predictors of visual acuity in compound eye evolution. ARTHROPOD STRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT 2021; 60:101002. [PMID: 33191145 DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2020.101002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 10/08/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Eyes have the flexibility to evolve to meet the ecological demands of their users. Relative to camera-type eyes, the fundamental limits of optical diffraction in arthropod compound eyes restrict the ability to resolve fine detail (visual acuity) to much lower degrees. We tested the capacity of several ecological factors to predict arthropod visual acuity, while simultaneously controlling for shared phylogenetic history. In this study, we have generated the most comprehensive review of compound eye visual acuity measurements to date, containing 385 species that span six of the major arthropod classes. An arthropod phylogeny, made custom to this database, was used to develop a phylogenetically-corrected generalized least squares (PGLS) linear model to evaluate four ecological factors predicted to underlie compound eye visual acuity: environmental light intensity, foraging strategy (predator vs. non-predator), horizontal structure of the visual scene, and environmental medium (air vs. water). To account for optical constraints on acuity related to animal size, body length was also included, but this did not show a significant effect in any of our models. Rather, the PGLS analysis revealed that the strongest predictors of compound eye acuity are described by a combination of environmental medium, foraging strategy, and environmental light intensity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn D Feller
- Union College, Department of Biological Sciences, 807 Union St., Schenectady, NY, 12308, USA.
| | - Camilla R Sharkey
- University of Minnesota, Ecology Evolution and Behavior Department, Saint Paul, MN, USA
| | | | - Heather D Bracken-Grissom
- Institute of Environment, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, North Miami, FL 33181, USA
| | - Nathan P Lord
- Louisiana State University, Entomology Department, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Megan L Porter
- University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Department of Biology, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - Lorian E Schweikert
- Institute of Environment, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, North Miami, FL 33181, USA
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31
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Two pursuit strategies for a single sensorimotor control task in blowfly. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20762. [PMID: 33247176 PMCID: PMC7695743 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77607-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Effective visuomotor coordination is a necessary requirement for the survival of many terrestrial, aquatic, and aerial animal species. We studied the kinematics of aerial pursuit in the blowfly Lucilia sericata using an actuated dummy as target for freely flying males. We found that the flies perform target tracking in the horizontal plane and target interception in the vertical plane. Our behavioural data suggest that the flies’ trajectory changes are a controlled combination of target heading angle and of the rate of change of the bearing angle. We implemented control laws in kinematic models and found that the contributions of proportional navigation strategy are negligible. We concluded that the difference between horizontal and vertical control relates to the difference in target heading angle the fly keeps constant: 0° in azimuth and 23° in elevation. Our work suggests that male Lucilia control both horizontal and vertical steerings by employing proportional controllers to the error angles. In horizontal plane, this controller operates at time delays as small as 10 ms, the fastest steering response observed in any flying animal, so far.
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Casares F, McGregor AP. The evolution and development of eye size in flies. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY 2020; 10:e380. [PMID: 32400100 DOI: 10.1002/wdev.380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2019] [Revised: 03/08/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
The compound eyes of flies exhibit striking variation in size, which has contributed to the adaptation of these animals to different habitats and their evolution of specialist behaviors. These differences in size are caused by differences in the number and/or size of ommatidia, which are specified during the development of the retinal field in the eye imaginal disc. While the genes and developmental mechanisms that regulate the formation of compound eyes are understood in great detail in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, we know very little about the genetic changes and mechanistic alterations that lead to natural variation in ommatidia number and/or size, and thus overall eye size, within and between fly species. Understanding the genetic and developmental bases for this natural variation in eye size not only has great potential to help us understand adaptations in fly vision but also determine how eye size and organ size more generally are regulated. Here we explore the genetic and developmental mechanisms that could underlie natural differences in compound eye size within and among fly species based on our knowledge of eye development in D. melanogaster and the few cases where the causative genes and mechanisms have already been identified. We suggest that the fly eye provides an evolutionary and developmental framework to better understand the regulation and diversification of this crucial sensory organ globally at a systems level as well as the gene regulatory networks and mechanisms acting at the tissue, cellular and molecular levels. This article is categorized under: Establishment of Spatial and Temporal Patterns > Regulation of Size, Proportion, and Timing Invertebrate Organogenesis > Flies Comparative Development and Evolution > Regulation of Organ Diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alistair P McGregor
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
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33
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Rossoni S, Niven JE. Prey speed influences the speed and structure of the raptorial strike of a 'sit-and-wait' predator. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200098. [PMID: 32396788 PMCID: PMC7280040 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Predators must often employ flexible strategies to capture prey. Particular attention has been given to the strategies of visual predators that actively pursue their prey, but sit-and-wait predators have been largely overlooked, their strategies often characterized as stereotyped. Praying mantids are primarily sit-and-wait predators that often employ crypsis to catch their prey using a raptorial strike produced by their highly modified forelimbs. Here, we show that the raptorial strike of the Madagascan marbled mantis (Polyspilota aeruginosa) varies in duration from 60 to 290 ms due to the tibial extension alone; slower strikes involve slower tibial extensions that may also be interrupted by a pause. The success of a strike is independent of its duration or the presence of these pauses. However, prey speed affects the duration of tibial extension and the probability of a pause occurring, both increasing at slower prey speeds. Adjusting the duration of the tibial extension according to prey speed allows mantids to time the final downward sweep of the tibia to their prey's approach. The use of visual inputs to adjust the motor pattern controlling forelimb movements shows that not all aspects of the strike are stereotyped and that sit-and-wait predators can produce behavioural flexibility.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jeremy E. Niven
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK
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34
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Gancedo B, Salido C, Tomsic D. Visual determinants of prey chasing behavior in a mudflat crab. J Exp Biol 2020; 223:jeb217299. [PMID: 32098883 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.217299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 02/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The crab Neohelice granulata inhabits mudflats where it is preyed upon by gulls and, conversely, preys on smaller crabs. Therefore, on seeing moving stimuli, this crab can behave as prey or predator. The crab escape response to visual stimuli has been extensively investigated from the behavioral to the neuronal level. The predatory response (PR), however, has not yet been explored. Here, we show that this response can be reliably elicited and investigated in a laboratory arena. By using dummies of three different sizes moved on the ground at three different velocities over multiple trials, we identified important stimulation conditions that boost the occurrence of PR and its chances of ending in successful prey capture. PR probability was sustained during the first 10 trials of our experiments but then declined. PR was elicited with high probability by the medium size dummy, less effectively by the small dummy, and hardly brought about by the large dummy, which mostly elicited avoidance responses. A GLMM analysis indicated that the dummy size and the tracking line distance were two strong determinants for eliciting PR. The rate of successful captures, however, mainly depended on the dummy velocity. Our results suggest that crabs are capable of assessing the distance to the dummy and its absolute size. The PR characterized here, in connection with the substantial knowledge of the visual processing associated with the escape response, provides excellent opportunities for comparative analyses of the organization of two distinct visually guided behaviors in a single animal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian Gancedo
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, CP1428, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), Ciudad Universitaria, CP1428, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Carla Salido
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, CP1428, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), Ciudad Universitaria, CP1428, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Daniel Tomsic
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, CP1428, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), Ciudad Universitaria, CP1428, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Characterization of the Genetic Architecture Underlying Eye Size Variation Within Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans. G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS 2020; 10:1005-1018. [PMID: 31919111 DOI: 10.1534/g3.119.400877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The compound eyes of insects exhibit striking variation in size, reflecting adaptation to different lifestyles and habitats. However, the genetic and developmental bases of variation in insect eye size is poorly understood, which limits our understanding of how these important morphological differences evolve. To address this, we further explored natural variation in eye size within and between four species of the Drosophila melanogaster species subgroup. We found extensive variation in eye size among these species, and flies with larger eyes generally had a shorter inter-ocular distance and vice versa We then carried out quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping of intra-specific variation in eye size and inter-ocular distance in both D. melanogaster and D. simulans This revealed that different genomic regions underlie variation in eye size and inter-ocular distance in both species, which we corroborated by introgression mapping in D. simulans This suggests that although there is a trade-off between eye size and inter-ocular distance, variation in these two traits is likely to be caused by different genes and so can be genetically decoupled. Finally, although we detected QTL for intra-specific variation in eye size at similar positions in D. melanogaster and D. simulans, we observed differences in eye fate commitment between strains of these two species. This indicates that different developmental mechanisms and therefore, most likely, different genes contribute to eye size variation in these species. Taken together with the results of previous studies, our findings suggest that the gene regulatory network that specifies eye size has evolved at multiple genetic nodes to give rise to natural variation in this trait within and among species.
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36
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Nityananda V. Insect Neurobiology: Divergent Neural Computations in Predatory Insects. Curr Biol 2020; 30:R159-R161. [PMID: 32097640 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.12.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
A comparative approach to neuroscience can greatly increase our understanding of how mechanisms map onto behaviour. A new study comparing two predatory insects demonstrates how neurons that are homologous can nonetheless mediate different computations and behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivek Nityananda
- Biosciences Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
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37
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Lawson KKK, Srinivasan MV. Contrast sensitivity and visual acuity of Queensland fruit flies (Bactrocera tryoni). J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2020; 206:419-428. [PMID: 32016552 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-020-01404-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2019] [Revised: 01/01/2020] [Accepted: 01/17/2020] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
This study examines the visual acuity of Queensland fruit flies (Bactrocera tryoni) by analysing their turning responses to an immersive visual stimulus consisting of a pattern of vertical stripes presented at various angular periods and rotational rates. The results infer that these flies possess an interommatidial angle of approximately [Formula: see text], and an ommatidial acceptance angle of approximately [Formula: see text]. This suggests that the visual acuity of Queensland fruit flies is substantially better than that of the classical vinegar fly (Drosophila melanogaster), and is comparable to those of the housefly (Musca domestica) and the honeybee (Apis mellifera). The contrast sensitivity of Queensland fruit flies is comparable to that of the housefly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kiaran K K Lawson
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
| | - Mandyam V Srinivasan
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.,The School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia
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38
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Supple JA, Pinto-Benito D, Khoo C, Wardill TJ, Fabian ST, Liu M, Pusdekar S, Galeano D, Pan J, Jiang S, Wang Y, Liu L, Peng H, Olberg RM, Gonzalez-Bellido PT. Binocular Encoding in the Damselfly Pre-motor Target Tracking System. Curr Biol 2020; 30:645-656.e4. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.12.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2019] [Revised: 10/16/2019] [Accepted: 12/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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Owens M, Giordullo I, Buschbeck EK. Establishment of correctly focused eyes may not require visual input in arthropods. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020; 223:jeb.216192. [PMID: 31796609 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.216192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Accepted: 11/27/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
For proper function, vertebrate and invertebrate visual systems must be able to achieve and maintain emmetropia, a state where distant objects are in focus on the retina. In vertebrates, this is accomplished through a combination of genetic control during early development and homeostatic visual input that fine-tunes the optics of the eye. While emmetropization has long been researched in vertebrates, it is largely unknown how emmetropia is established in arthropods. We used a micro-ophthalmoscope to directly measure how the lens projects images onto the retina in the eyes of small, live arthropods, allowing us to compare the refractive states of light-reared and dark-reared arthropods. First, we measured the image-forming larval eyes of diving beetles (Thermonectus marmoratus), which are known to grow rapidly and dramatically between larval instars. Then, we measured the image-forming principal anterior-median eyes of jumping spiders (Phidippus audax) after emergence from their egg cases. Finally, we measured individual ommatidia in the compound eyes of flesh flies (Sarcophaga bullata) that had developed and emerged under either light or dark conditions. Surprisingly, and in sharp contrast to vertebrates, our data for this diverse set of arthropods suggest that visual input is inconsequential in regard to achieving well-focused eyes. Although it remains unclear whether visual input that is received after the initial development further improves focusing, these results suggest that at least the initial coordination between the lens refractive power and eye size in arthropods may be more strongly predetermined by developmental factors than is typically the case in vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeline Owens
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
| | - Isaiah Giordullo
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
| | - Elke K Buschbeck
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
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40
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Corthals K, Moore S, Geurten BR. Strategies of locomotion composition. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2019; 36:140-148. [PMID: 31622810 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2019.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2019] [Revised: 09/10/2019] [Accepted: 09/24/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
This review aims to highlight the importance of saccades during locomotion as a strategy to reduce sensory information loss while the subject is moving. Acquiring sensory data from the environment during movement results in a temporal flow of information, as the sensory precept changes with the position of the observer. Accordingly, the movement pattern shapes the sensory flow. Therefore, the requirements of locomotion and sensation have to be balanced in the behaviour of the organism. Insect vision provides deep insight into the interplay between action and perception. Insects can shape their optic flow by reducing their rotational movements to fast and short saccades. This generates prolonged phases of translations which provide depth information. Extensive behavioural and physiological studies on insects show how shaping the optic flow facilitates the coding of motion vision. Indeed the saccadic strategy provides an elegant solution to optimise sensory flow. Complementary studies in other taxa reported similar locomotion strategies emphasising the crucial influence of sensory flow on locomotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina Corthals
- Lund University, Functional Zoology, Sölvegatan 35, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
| | - Sharlen Moore
- Instituto de Fisiologıa Celular - Neurociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Universidad 3000, Coyoacán, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico; Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Department of Neurogenetics, Hermann-Rein-Str. 3, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Bart Rh Geurten
- Georg-August-University Göttingen, Department of Cellular Neuroscience, Julia-Lermontowa-Weg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
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41
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Abstract
Smooth pursuit eye movements maintain the line of sight on smoothly moving targets. Although often studied as a response to sensory motion, pursuit anticipates changes in motion trajectories, thus reducing harmful consequences due to sensorimotor processing delays. Evidence for predictive pursuit includes (a) anticipatory smooth eye movements (ASEM) in the direction of expected future target motion that can be evoked by perceptual cues or by memory for recent motion, (b) pursuit during periods of target occlusion, and (c) improved accuracy of pursuit with self-generated or biologically realistic target motions. Predictive pursuit has been linked to neural activity in the frontal cortex and in sensory motion areas. As behavioral and neural evidence for predictive pursuit grows and statistically based models augment or replace linear systems approaches, pursuit is being regarded less as a reaction to immediate sensory motion and more as a predictive response, with retinal motion serving as one of a number of contributing cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eileen Kowler
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA; , ,
| | - Jason F Rubinstein
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA; , ,
| | - Elio M Santos
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA; , , .,Current affiliation: Department of Psychology, State University of New York, College at Oneonta, Oneonta, New York 13820, USA;
| | - Jie Wang
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA; , ,
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42
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Brighton CH, Taylor GK. Hawks steer attacks using a guidance system tuned for close pursuit of erratically manoeuvring targets. Nat Commun 2019; 10:2462. [PMID: 31186415 PMCID: PMC6560099 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10454-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2018] [Accepted: 05/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Aerial predators adopt a variety of different hunting styles, with
divergent flight morphologies typically adapted either to high-speed interception or
manoeuvring through clutter, but how are their sensorimotor systems tuned in
relation to habitat structure and prey behavior? Falcons intercept prey at
high-speed using the same proportional navigation guidance law as homing missiles.
This classical guidance law works well in the open, but performs sub-optimally
against highly-manoeuvrable targets, and may not produce a feasible path through the
cluttered environments frequented by hawks and other raptors. Here we identify the
guidance law of n = 5 Harris’ Hawks Parabuteo unicinctus chasing erratically manoeuvring
artificial targets. Harris’ Hawks use a mixed guidance law, coupling low-gain
proportional navigation with a low-gain proportional pursuit element. This guidance
law promotes tail-chasing and is not thrown off by erratic manoeuvres, making it
well suited to the hawks’ natural hunting style, involving close pursuit of agile
prey through clutter. Hunting styles and flight morphologies of aerial predators are adapted
to their habitat structure and prey behaviour. Here, the authors reconstruct flight
trajectories of Harris’ Hawks Parabuteo
unicinctus and find that these follow a mixed guidance law that is
not thrown off by erratic manoeuvres of prey.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline H Brighton
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - Graham K Taylor
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK.
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Varennes LP, Krapp HG, Viollet S. A novel setup for 3D chasing behavior analysis in free flying flies. J Neurosci Methods 2019; 321:28-38. [PMID: 30991032 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2019] [Revised: 04/10/2019] [Accepted: 04/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Insects catching prey or mates on the wing perform one of the fastest behaviours observed in nature. Some dipteran flies are aerial acrobats specialized to detect, chase and capture their targets within the blink of an eye. Studies of aerial pursuits and its underlying sensorimotor control have been a long-standing subject of interest in neuroethology research. NEW METHOD We designed an actuated dummy target to trigger chasing flights in male blowflies. Our setup generates arbitrary 2D target trajectories in the horizontal plane combining translation up to 1 m/s and angular rotation up to 720°/s. RESULTS Using stereovision methods we reconstructed target and pursuer positions every 5 ms with a maximum 3D error of 5 mm. The pursuer's body pitch and yaw angles were resolved within an error range of 6deg. An embedded observation point provides a close-up view of the pursuer's final approach and enables us to measure its body roll angle. We observed banked turns and sideslip which have not been reported for chasing blowflies in the past. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S) Previous studies focused on pursuit along circular paths or interception of translating targets while our method allows us to generate more complex target trajectories. Measurements of body orientation in earlier accounts were limited to the heading direction while we extended the analysis to include the full body orientation during pursuit. CONCLUSIONS Our setup offers an opportunity to investigate kinematics and governing visual parameters of chasing behaviour in species up to the size of blowflies under a large variety of experimental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Léandre P Varennes
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ London, UK; Aix-Marseille Universite, CNRS, Institute of Movement Science, UMR 7287, Marseille 13288, France.
| | - Holger G Krapp
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ London, UK.
| | - Stéphane Viollet
- Aix-Marseille Universite, CNRS, Institute of Movement Science, UMR 7287, Marseille 13288, France.
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Colonnier F, Ramirez-Martinez S, Viollet S, Ruffier F. A bio-inspired sighted robot chases like a hoverfly. BIOINSPIRATION & BIOMIMETICS 2019; 14:036002. [PMID: 30654332 DOI: 10.1088/1748-3190/aaffa4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Here we present a novel bio-inspired visual processing system, which enables a robot to locate and follow a target, using an artificial compound eye called CurvACE. This visual sensor actively scanned the environment at an imposed frequency (50 Hz) with an angular scanning amplitude of [Formula: see text] and succeeded in locating a textured cylindrical target with hyperacuity, i.e. much finer resolution than the coarse inter-receptor angle of the compound eye. Equipped with this small, lightweight visual scanning sensor, a Mecanum-wheeled mobile robot named ACEbot was able to follow a target at a constant distance by localizing the right and left edges of the target. The localization of the target's contrasted edges is based on a bio-inspired summation of Gaussian receptive fields in the visual system. By means of its auto-adaptive pixels, ACEbot consistently achieved similar pursuit performances under various lighting conditions with a high level of repeatability. The robotic pursuit pattern mimics finely the behavior of the male fly Syritta Pipens L. while pursuing the female. The high similarity in the trajectories as well as the biomimicry of the visual system provides strong support for the hypothesis that flies do maintain center the target and constant its subtended angle during smooth pursuit. Moreover, we discuss the fact that such simple strategy can also provide a trajectory compatible with motion camouflage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabien Colonnier
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, ISM, Marseille, France. Temasek Labs, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
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Integration of Small- and Wide-Field Visual Features in Target-Selective Descending Neurons of both Predatory and Nonpredatory Dipterans. J Neurosci 2018; 38:10725-10733. [PMID: 30373766 PMCID: PMC6290295 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1695-18.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2018] [Revised: 10/18/2018] [Accepted: 10/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
For many animals, target motion carries high ecological significance as this may be generated by a predator, prey, or potential mate. Indeed, animals whose survival depends on early target detection are often equipped with a sharply tuned visual system, yielding robust performance in challenging conditions. For example, many fast-flying insects use visual cues for identifying targets, such as prey (e.g., predatory dragonflies and robberflies) or conspecifics (e.g., nonpredatory hoverflies), and can often do so against self-generated background optic flow. Supporting these behaviors, the optic lobes of insects that pursue targets harbor neurons that respond robustly to the motion of small moving objects, even when displayed against syn-directional background clutter. However, in diptera, the encoding of target information by the descending neurons, which are more directly involved in generating the behavioral output, has received less attention. We characterized target-selective neurons by recording in the ventral nerve cord of male and female predatory Holcocephala fusca robberflies and of male nonpredatory Eristalis tenax hoverflies. We show that both species have dipteran target-selective descending neurons that only respond to target motion if the background is stationary or moving slowly, moves in the opposite direction, or has un-naturalistic spatial characteristics. The response to the target is suppressed when background and target move at similar velocities, which is strikingly different to the response of target neurons in the optic lobes. As the neurons we recorded from are premotor, our findings affect our interpretation of the neurophysiology underlying target-tracking behaviors. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Many animals use sensory cues to detect moving targets that may represent predators, prey, or conspecifics. For example, birds of prey show superb sensitivity to the motion of small prey, and intercept these at high speeds. In a similar manner, predatory insects visually track moving prey, often against cluttered backgrounds. Accompanying this behavior, the brains of insects that pursue targets contain neurons that respond exclusively to target motion. We here show that dipteran insects also have target-selective descending neurons in the part of their nervous system that corresponds to the vertebrate spinal cord. Surprisingly, and in contrast to the neurons in the brain, these premotor neurons are inhibited by background patterns moving in the same direction as the target.
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Schuster S. Hunting in archerfish - an ecological perspective on a remarkable combination of skills. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 221:221/24/jeb159723. [PMID: 30530768 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.159723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Archerfish are well known for using jets of water to dislodge distant aerial prey from twigs or leaves. This Review gives a brief overview of a number of skills that the fish need to secure prey with their shooting technique. Archerfish are opportunistic hunters and, even in the wild, shoot at artificial objects to determine whether these are rewarding. They can detect non-moving targets and use efficient search strategies with characteristics of human visual search. Their learning of how to engage targets can be remarkably efficient and can show impressive degrees of generalization, including learning from observation. In other cases, however, the fish seem unable to learn and it requires some understanding of the ecological and biophysical constraints to appreciate why. The act of shooting has turned out not to be of a simple all-or-none character. Rather, the fish adjust the volume of water fired according to target size and use fine adjustments in the timing of their mouth opening and closing manoeuvre to adjust the hydrodynamic stability of their jets to target distance. As soon as prey is dislodged and starts falling, the fish make rapid and yet sophisticated multi-dimensional decisions to secure their prey against many intraspecific and interspecific competitors. Although it is not known why and how archerfish evolved an ability to shoot in the first place, I suggest that the evolution of shooting has strongly pushed the co-evolution of diverse other skills that are needed to secure a catch.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Schuster
- Department of Animal Physiology, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
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Walker AA, Dobson J, Jin J, Robinson SD, Herzig V, Vetter I, King GF, Fry BG. Buzz Kill: Function and Proteomic Composition of Venom from the Giant Assassin Fly Dolopus genitalis (Diptera: Asilidae). Toxins (Basel) 2018; 10:toxins10110456. [PMID: 30400621 PMCID: PMC6266666 DOI: 10.3390/toxins10110456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2018] [Revised: 10/31/2018] [Accepted: 11/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Assassin flies (Diptera: Asilidae) inject paralysing venom into insect prey during hunting, but their venoms are poorly characterised in comparison to those produced by spiders, scorpions, or hymenopteran insects. Here we investigated the composition of the venom of the giant Australian assassin fly Dolopus genitalis using a combination of insect microinjection assays, calcium imaging assays of mammalian sensory neurons, proteomics and transcriptomics. Injection of venom into blowflies (Lucilia cuprina) produced rapid contractile paralysis (PD50 at 1 min = 3.1 μg per fly) followed by death, and also caused immediate activation of mouse dorsal root ganglion neurons (at 50 ng/μL). These results are consistent with venom use for both prey capture and predator deterrence. Paragon searches of tandem mass spectra of venom against a translated thoracic gland RNA-Seq database identified 122 polypeptides present in the venom, including six linear and 21 disulfide-rich peptides. Some of these disulfide-rich peptides display sequence homology to peptide families independently recruited into other animal venoms, including inhibitor cystine knots, cystine-stabilised α/β defensins, Kazal peptides, and von Willebrand factors. Numerous enzymes are present in the venom, including 35 proteases of the S1 family, proteases of the S10, C1A, M12A, M14, and M17 families, and phosphatase, amylase, hydrolase, nuclease, and dehydrogenase-like proteins. These results highlight convergent molecular evolution between the assassin flies and other venomous animals, as well as the unique and rich molecular composition of assassin fly venom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew A Walker
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
| | - James Dobson
- Venom Evolution Lab, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
| | - Jiayi Jin
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
| | - Samuel D Robinson
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
- Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
| | - Volker Herzig
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
| | - Irina Vetter
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia.
| | - Glenn F King
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
| | - Bryan G Fry
- Venom Evolution Lab, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
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Should I stay or should I go? Perching damselfly use simple colour and size cues to trigger flight. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.08.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Fabian ST, Sumner ME, Wardill TJ, Rossoni S, Gonzalez-Bellido PT. Interception by two predatory fly species is explained by a proportional navigation feedback controller. J R Soc Interface 2018; 15:rsif.2018.0466. [PMID: 30333249 PMCID: PMC6228472 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2018.0466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2018] [Accepted: 09/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
When aiming to capture a fast-moving target, animals can follow it until they catch up, or try to intercept it. In principle, interception is the more complicated strategy, but also more energy efficient. To study whether simple feedback controllers can explain interception behaviours by animals with miniature brains, we have reconstructed and studied the predatory flights of the robber fly Holcocephala fusca and killer fly Coenosia attenuata. Although both species catch other aerial arthropods out of the air, Holcocephala contrasts prey against the open sky, while Coenosia hunts against clutter and at much closer range. Thus, their solutions to this target catching task may differ significantly. We reconstructed in three dimensions the flight trajectories of these two species and those of the presented targets they were attempting to intercept. We then tested their recorded performances against simulations. We found that both species intercept targets on near time-optimal courses. To investigate the guidance laws that could underlie this behaviour, we tested three alternative control systems (pure pursuit, deviated pursuit and proportional navigation). Only proportional navigation explains the timing and magnitude of fly steering responses, but with differing gain constants and delays for each fly species. Holcocephala uses a dimensionless navigational constant of N ≈ 3 with a time delay of ≈28 ms to intercept targets over a comparatively long range. This constant is optimal, as it minimizes the control effort required to hit the target. In contrast, Coenosia uses a constant of N ≈ 1.5 with a time delay of ≈18 ms, this setting may allow Coenosia to cope with the extremely high line-of-sight rotation rates, which are due to close target proximity, and thus prevent overcompensation of steering. This is the first clear evidence of interception supported by proportional navigation in insects. This work also demonstrates how by setting different gains and delays, the same simple feedback controller can yield the necessary performance in two different environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel T Fabian
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB3 2EG, UK
| | - Mary E Sumner
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB3 2EG, UK
| | - Trevor J Wardill
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB3 2EG, UK.,Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Sergio Rossoni
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB3 2EG, UK
| | - Paloma T Gonzalez-Bellido
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB3 2EG, UK .,Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
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Nityananda V, Read JCA. Stereopsis in animals: evolution, function and mechanisms. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 220:2502-2512. [PMID: 28724702 PMCID: PMC5536890 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.143883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Stereopsis is the computation of depth information from views acquired simultaneously from different points in space. For many years, stereopsis was thought to be confined to primates and other mammals with front-facing eyes. However, stereopsis has now been demonstrated in many other animals, including lateral-eyed prey mammals, birds, amphibians and invertebrates. The diversity of animals known to have stereo vision allows us to begin to investigate ideas about its evolution and the underlying selective pressures in different animals. It also further prompts the question of whether all animals have evolved essentially the same algorithms to implement stereopsis. If so, this must be the best way to do stereo vision, and should be implemented by engineers in machine stereopsis. Conversely, if animals have evolved a range of stereo algorithms in response to different pressures, that could inspire novel forms of machine stereopsis appropriate for distinct environments, tasks or constraints. As a first step towards addressing these ideas, we here review our current knowledge of stereo vision in animals, with a view towards outlining common principles about the evolution, function and mechanisms of stereo vision across the animal kingdom. We conclude by outlining avenues for future work, including research into possible new mechanisms of stereo vision, with implications for machine vision and the role of stereopsis in the evolution of camouflage. Summary: Stereopsis has evolved independently in different animals. We review the various functions it serves and the variety of mechanisms that could underlie stereopsis in different species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivek Nityananda
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Institute for Advanced Study, Wallotstraße 19, Berlin 14193, Germany .,Newcastle University, Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building, Framlington Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK
| | - Jenny C A Read
- Newcastle University, Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building, Framlington Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK
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