Meeting Abstract

P1.93  Sunday, Jan. 4  Perturbing flight paths in Lepidoptera by inducing abdominal flexion LOUDON, S. J.*; ALDWORTH, Z. N.; DANIEL, T. L.; University of Washington; University of Washington; University of Washington sloudon@u.washington.edu

Insects use rapid body rotations during flight control. These rotations are generally considered to be initiated by the wings. Insects can also use the movement of other body parts, such as the head, legs or abdomen, to influence their flight path. A recent study in the crepuscular hawkmoth, Manduca sexta, has suggested that abdominal movements are used during tracking flight to cancel pitching and yawing motions initiated by the wings. However, it is unknown to what extent abdominal movements themselves can be used to initiate changes in the flight path. To address this issue we elicited abdominal movement in Manduca through electrical stimulation during loosely tethered flight in order to determine the extent of association between abdominal movement and changes in flight trajectory. We used multiple high-speed cameras to film the animals flight in a closed chamber under low-light conditions. Stimulation current was delivered using tungsten electrodes inserted through the ventral cuticle of the thorax. Four stereotyped body points were digitized from the flight sequences, and used to extract 3-dimensional flight parameters such as yaw and pitch, as well as the dorsal-ventral and lateral flexion rates of the abdomen. We then used correlation analysis to determine the relationship between the abdominal movement and the observed changes to the flight path. We consistently found abdominal movements and changes in flight posture following stimulation, and flexion data were correlated with the attitude changes at delays of between 500-750 ms. These results demonstrate that abdominal movements can be used in insect flight control.