How flying insects navigate

Flying insects integrate multiple types of sensory cues to locate and navigate toward virtual objects in a complex 3D landscape, a study finds. Flying insects are remarkable for their ability to rapidly locate objects such as food and mates while exploring a complex 3D world. However, how insects accomplish this computationally intensive feat during flight, especially over large spatial scales, is unclear. Pavan Kumar Kaushik, Marian Renz, and Shannon Olsson used virtual reality to examine the behavior of tethered flying insects, including apple flies, mosquitoes, hoverflies, and crane flies. The virtual reality arena consisted of complex 3D visual scenery with grass, sky, trees, and flowers, as well as odors and wind tunnel-like airflow fields. All four Dipteran species located and approached flowers or trees, which are preferred sites for mating, feeding, or egg-laying in the real world. In addition, apple flies were more likely to approach close trees than faraway trees, suggesting that the flies use depth cues such as perspective and motion parallax to determine virtual object distance. Moreover, apple flies combined directional airflow and odor information to locate and move toward virtual fruit-blend odor plumes. Taken together, the findings demonstrate that flying insects integrate multiple types of sensory cues to locate and navigate toward virtual objects in a complex 3D landscape. According to the authors, the findings could be used to optimize strategies for pest control, crop pollination, and disease vector management.

Article #19-12124: “Characterizing long-range search behavior in Diptera using complex 3D virtual environments,” by Pavan Kumar Kaushik, Marian Renz, and Shannon Olsson.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Pavan Kumar Kaushik, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bengaluru, INDIA; e-mail:

[email protected]

; Shannon Olsson, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bengaluru, INDIA; e-mail:

[email protected]

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