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The optomotor yaw response of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria
Author(s) -
EGGERS A.,
PREISS R.,
GEWECKE M.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
physiological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-3032
pISSN - 0307-6962
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3032.1991.tb00579.x
Subject(s) - schistocerca , desert locust , locust , stimulus (psychology) , biology , acridoidea , communication , zoology , ecology , orthoptera , acrididae , psychology , cognitive psychology
The optomotor yaw response of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forsk.), was investigated under open‐ and closed‐loop conditions. When flying tethered in the centre of a vertically striped hollow sphere, the polarity of response of the locust was always the same as the stimulus. The response, therefore, appears suitable to stabilize body posture against passive rotations around the yaw‐axis in free flight. Responses were induced by contrast frequencies up to 150 Hz with a maximum of amplitude at about 20 Hz. The characteristic curve, measured between 0.3 and 160 Hz, is widened up towards higher frequencies as compared with those of bees and flies. Variability was the most striking feature in the locust's yaw response. The amplitude of modulation not only varied greatly between individuals but also changed with the same visual stimulus in the course of an experiment. We therefore suppose that the locust's turning behaviour is subject to gain control mechanisms and that spontaneous gain modulations are responsible for the observed variability in the stimulus‐response conversion.