Meeting Abstract

17.10  Friday, Jan. 4  The Effect of Loss of Sensory Input from the Tegula on the Flight Behavior and Muscle Activation Patterns of the moth Manduca sexta SIMPSON, GM*; WILLIS, MA; Case Western Reserve University; Case Western Reserve University gms67@case.edu

The tegula is a sensory structure at the base of each of an insect’s wings. It provides the central nervous system with feedback about the movement of the wing during flight. To understand the role of the tegula in moth flight we measured the effects of the loss of tegulae inputs on the flight behavior and underlying activation patterns of elevator and depressor flight muscles in the tobacco hornworm moth Manduca sexta. We predicted that, as previously seen in locusts, removal of tegula input would affect the activation of the wing elevator muscles and thus the ability of the insect to fly. M. sexta males were challenged to track a female pheromone plume upwind in a wind tunnel and the flight behavior was recorded using high speed video cameras. Flight muscle activation data was collected by inserting electrodes into wing elevator and depressor muscles and synchronized with the video recordings. Initial analyses shows that the onset time of the elevator muscle activation is inconsistent in moths without tegulae compared to intact moths. Moths without tegulae fly for shorter periods of time and, in extreme cases, will not fly at all. So far, our analyses show that the effects of removing the tegulae on moth flight are not exactly consistent with that seen in locusts, but there is a clear effect of loss of tegulae input. We thank Jennifer Avondet for her assistance in managing the insect colony and help with all aspects of this project. G.M.S. was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute funded Summer Program in Undergraduate Research. M.A.W. was supported by an Air Force Office of Scientific Research grant FA9550-07-0149.