A Guide for Using Flight Simulators to Study the Sensory Basis of Long-Distance Migration in Insects
Dreyer, David LU ; Frost, Barrie ; Mouritsen, Henrik ; Lefèvre, Adrien ; Menz, Myles and Warrant, Eric LU
(2021)
In Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
15.
- Abstract
Studying the routes flown by long-distance migratory insects comes with the obvious challenge that the animal’s body size and weight is comparably low. This makes it difficult to attach relatively heavy transmitters to these insects in order to monitor their migratory routes (as has been done for instance in several species of migratory birds. However, the rather delicate anatomy of insects can be advantageous for testing their capacity to orient with respect to putative compass cues during indoor experiments under controlled conditions. Almost 20 years ago, Barrie Frost and Henrik Mouritsen developed a flight simulator which enabled them to monitor the heading directions of tethered migratory Monarch butterflies, both indoors and... (More)
Studying the routes flown by long-distance migratory insects comes with the obvious challenge that the animal’s body size and weight is comparably low. This makes it difficult to attach relatively heavy transmitters to these insects in order to monitor their migratory routes (as has been done for instance in several species of migratory birds. However, the rather delicate anatomy of insects can be advantageous for testing their capacity to orient with respect to putative compass cues during indoor experiments under controlled conditions. Almost 20 years ago, Barrie Frost and Henrik Mouritsen developed a flight simulator which enabled them to monitor the heading directions of tethered migratory Monarch butterflies, both indoors and outdoors. The design described in the original paper has been used in many follow-up studies to describe the orientation capacities of mainly diurnal lepidopteran species. Here we present a modification of this flight simulator design that enables studies of nocturnal long-distance migration in moths while allowing controlled magnetic, visual and mechanosensory stimulation. This modified flight simulator has so far been successfully used to study the sensory basis of migration in two European and one Australian migratory noctuid species.
(Less)
- author
- Dreyer, David
LU
; Frost, Barrie
; Mouritsen, Henrik
; Lefèvre, Adrien
; Menz, Myles
and Warrant, Eric
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021-06-10
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- behavior, insects, navigation, orientation, sensory ecology
- in
- Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
- volume
- 15
- article number
- 678936
- publisher
- Frontiers Media S. A.
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:34177479
- scopus:85108734187
- ISSN
- 1662-5153
- DOI
- 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.678936
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- This work was funded by the European Union (EU) and the Horizon 2020 program: European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant MagneticMoth (grant no. 741298)
- id
- b3c78f64-5735-4f88-9262-dc0a1d9d29b1
- date added to LUP
- 2021-08-16 14:32:09
- date last changed
- 2024-04-20 09:24:57
@article{b3c78f64-5735-4f88-9262-dc0a1d9d29b1,
abstract = {{<p>Studying the routes flown by long-distance migratory insects comes with the obvious challenge that the animal’s body size and weight is comparably low. This makes it difficult to attach relatively heavy transmitters to these insects in order to monitor their migratory routes (as has been done for instance in several species of migratory birds. However, the rather delicate anatomy of insects can be advantageous for testing their capacity to orient with respect to putative compass cues during indoor experiments under controlled conditions. Almost 20 years ago, Barrie Frost and Henrik Mouritsen developed a flight simulator which enabled them to monitor the heading directions of tethered migratory Monarch butterflies, both indoors and outdoors. The design described in the original paper has been used in many follow-up studies to describe the orientation capacities of mainly diurnal lepidopteran species. Here we present a modification of this flight simulator design that enables studies of nocturnal long-distance migration in moths while allowing controlled magnetic, visual and mechanosensory stimulation. This modified flight simulator has so far been successfully used to study the sensory basis of migration in two European and one Australian migratory noctuid species.</p>}},
author = {{Dreyer, David and Frost, Barrie and Mouritsen, Henrik and Lefèvre, Adrien and Menz, Myles and Warrant, Eric}},
issn = {{1662-5153}},
keywords = {{behavior; insects; navigation; orientation; sensory ecology}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{06}},
publisher = {{Frontiers Media S. A.}},
series = {{Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience}},
title = {{A Guide for Using Flight Simulators to Study the Sensory Basis of Long-Distance Migration in Insects}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/119386165/Final_Revised_Submitted_Version.pdf}},
doi = {{10.3389/fnbeh.2021.678936}},
volume = {{15}},
year = {{2021}},
}