Year: 1991
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Head movements of Drosophila, effecting a stabilization of the eyes relative to the surroundings, have been studied by macro-videography.Drosophila, like other diptera, can turn its head in all directions: yaw ±25°, pitch ±35°, and roll ±120°.In flight, compared to rest, the head is endogeneously pitched downwards by 23.0 ° ±7.5 ° SD.This compensates, at least partly, for the increased body elevation at average flight speeds (walking: 15.0°±4.2°SD,flying 45.5 ° ±13.0°SD).Resting Drosophilae hold their head still, when not stimulated but during walking and flight they move their head spontaneously in a characteristic manner in all directions.Since flies do not respond to gravity in flight, Drosophila can be mounted in arbitrary orientations in the center of a striped drum to elicit head/eye movements in different directions.When the pattern is moving back and forth (pattern speed: 24°/s, spatial wavelength: 24°) Drosophila turns its head in the same direction, reducing the apparent pattern velocity on the eyes by about 65% in flying and by about 80% in resting flies.
Source: MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society)
Author: R Hengstenberg
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3022600998