Meeting Abstract

45.2  Monday, Jan. 5  Behavioral context modulates the loss of local feedback sensors on flight in the moth Manduca sexta. WILLIS, Mark/A.*; AVONDET, Jennifer/L.; Case Western Reserve University; Case Western Reserve University maw27@case.edu

Information from local feedback sensors is known to have profound effects on flight motor patterns, and has been shown to affect maneuvering in freely flying insects. Much of what we know in this area is from studies on the locust, whose front and hind wings beat out of phase with each other. However, little is known about the role of local feedback in the Lepidoptera, whose front and hind wings are physically linked and appear to function as one. We removed the tegulae, a sensory structure known from locusts to signal maximum down stroke position, from the fore and hind wings, separately and in concert to determine their role in moth flight. The performance of these experimentally manipulated animals was compared to that of normal controls when challenged to take flight in still air and when asked to track a plume of an attractive odor upwind. In still air, moths with no tegulae took significantly longer to warm-up, a lower percentage took flight, and those that took flight flew for shorter times than intact controls. However when challenged to track a plume of attractive wind-borne odor the performance of the moths without tegulae were similar to that of the controls. We now need to understand how loss of the tegulae affects the flight motor patterns and wing kinematics underlying flight and maneuvering in these different behavioral contexts. Supported by AFOSR #FA9550-07-1-0149.