Navigational Differences between Insect Species
(2025) BMEM01 20251Department of Biomedical Engineering
- Abstract
- In this thesis the neurological mechanisms responsible for navigation in the sweat bee, the bumblebee and the fruit fly are explored. The central complex (CX) in the insect brain is in focus. The CX is critical in deciding the insect’s head direction and in generating goaloriented movements. In this study a comparison is made on how these insects navigate in the absence of visual input. Through computational simulations, this research investigates the role of specific neural circuits, specifically the EPG, PEG, and PEN cells. This is done by letting each species maintain its direction based on only angular velocity alone. The results reveal that the sweat bee performs better navigating without visual input than the other species, probably... (More)
- In this thesis the neurological mechanisms responsible for navigation in the sweat bee, the bumblebee and the fruit fly are explored. The central complex (CX) in the insect brain is in focus. The CX is critical in deciding the insect’s head direction and in generating goaloriented movements. In this study a comparison is made on how these insects navigate in the absence of visual input. Through computational simulations, this research investigates the role of specific neural circuits, specifically the EPG, PEG, and PEN cells. This is done by letting each species maintain its direction based on only angular velocity alone. The results reveal that the sweat bee performs better navigating without visual input than the other species, probably due to its nocturnal nature. In contrast, the bumblebee and fruit fly show varying degrees of reliance on visual cues. However, the fruit fly shows greater adaptability at higher rotational speeds. These findings suggest that the differences in CX structure are linked to the insect’s ecological niche. This might contribute to the development of bio-inspired navigation systems in robotics. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- Differences in navigation of the bumblebee, sweat bee and fruit fly
The thesis Navigational Differences between Insect Species investigates how different insect species navigate their environments without visual input. It focuses on the sweat bee, bumblebee, and fruit fly. The central complex (CX), a critical brain region for navigation, is at the heart of the study. The role of the CX is to take allothetic and idiothetic input and transform the information, in order to guide the insects’ movements. The structure of the insects’ CX is, compared to other animals, quite simple. Despite this, the CX of insects is impressively good at supporting navigation, even without visual input.
In this thesis a computational simulation is developed... (More) - Differences in navigation of the bumblebee, sweat bee and fruit fly
The thesis Navigational Differences between Insect Species investigates how different insect species navigate their environments without visual input. It focuses on the sweat bee, bumblebee, and fruit fly. The central complex (CX), a critical brain region for navigation, is at the heart of the study. The role of the CX is to take allothetic and idiothetic input and transform the information, in order to guide the insects’ movements. The structure of the insects’ CX is, compared to other animals, quite simple. Despite this, the CX of insects is impressively good at supporting navigation, even without visual input.
In this thesis a computational simulation is developed in order to explore the navigational role of the different cell types - the EPG, PEG, PEN, and D7 cells. A model of each of the three species was exposed to various conditions, such as the direction changing at various speeds or staying static completely. The result revealed that the nocturnal sweat bee was the best at navigating without visual input. The most likely explanation to this is probably due to the sweat bees ecological adaptations. Those adaptations made it possible for the sweat bee to navigate forest environments in near darkness. A result of this appears to be a CX that is optimized for non-visual navigation - at least in comparison with the bumblebee and fruit fly.
In contrast to the sweat bee, the bumblebee and fruit fly showed a greater dependence on visual input. That is not to say the results of these two insects did not have any differences. The bumblebee had trouble with accurate navigation when the rotational speed was high. The reason for this is believed to be because of its larger size as well as its heavy reliance on visual input. The fruit fly showed a higher resilience to higher rotational speeds. This is thought to be due to its unique neural architecture, allowing it to compensate for the lack of visual input. However, at slower rotational speeds, the fruit fly performed poorly, or not at all, without visual guidance.
The main takeaway from this study is the relationship between the structural differences in the insects CX and their ecological niches. For example, the sweat bees' success at navigating without visual input makes sense because of its need to navigate low-light environments in nature. The simulations show that the neural architecture of each species CX is tailored to their specific environmental challenges, reflecting millions of years of evolution.
The research presented in this thesis could have meaning to the world of technology, as well as biology. Perhaps the results could help the development of bio-inspired navigation systems. By recreating the biological navigational systems with the most success, engineers could design algorithms and hardware that succeed in areas where GPS systems fail. For instance, the sweat bee navigational capabilities in low-light environments could help systems operate in dark or cluttered environments.
To summarise, this thesis sheds light on the differences in insects navigational strategies. Strategies that are a result of the insects’ neural architecture, that in turn is a result of ecological demands. The study highlights the role of the CX in navigation, while opening doors to innovative applications in technology. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9188256
- author
- Stenlund, Lisa LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- BMEM01 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- bee, bumblebee, fly, Navigation, neuron, network
- language
- English
- additional info
- 2025-04
- id
- 9188256
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-11 13:56:51
- date last changed
- 2025-06-11 13:56:51
@misc{9188256,
abstract = {{In this thesis the neurological mechanisms responsible for navigation in the sweat bee, the bumblebee and the fruit fly are explored. The central complex (CX) in the insect brain is in focus. The CX is critical in deciding the insect’s head direction and in generating goaloriented movements. In this study a comparison is made on how these insects navigate in the absence of visual input. Through computational simulations, this research investigates the role of specific neural circuits, specifically the EPG, PEG, and PEN cells. This is done by letting each species maintain its direction based on only angular velocity alone. The results reveal that the sweat bee performs better navigating without visual input than the other species, probably due to its nocturnal nature. In contrast, the bumblebee and fruit fly show varying degrees of reliance on visual cues. However, the fruit fly shows greater adaptability at higher rotational speeds. These findings suggest that the differences in CX structure are linked to the insect’s ecological niche. This might contribute to the development of bio-inspired navigation systems in robotics.}},
author = {{Stenlund, Lisa}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Navigational Differences between Insect Species}},
year = {{2025}},
}