Integration of parallel pathways for flight control in a hawkmoth reflects prevalence and relevance of natural visual cues
An animal’s behaviour is the result of multiple neural pathways acting in parallel, receiving information across and within sensory modalities at the same time. How these pathways are integrated, particularly when their individual outputs are in conflict, is key to understanding complex natural beha...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/104118 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1839626453469102080 |
|---|---|
| author | Ronja Bigge Rebecca Grittner Anna Lisa Stöckl |
| author_facet | Ronja Bigge Rebecca Grittner Anna Lisa Stöckl |
| author_sort | Ronja Bigge |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | An animal’s behaviour is the result of multiple neural pathways acting in parallel, receiving information across and within sensory modalities at the same time. How these pathways are integrated, particularly when their individual outputs are in conflict, is key to understanding complex natural behaviours. We investigated this question in the visually guided flight of the hummingbird hawkmoth Macroglossum stellatarum. These insects were recently shown to partition their visual field, using ventrolateral optic flow cues to guide their flight like most insects, while the same stimuli in the dorsal visual field evoke a novel directional response. Using behavioural experiments which set the two pathways into conflict, we tested whether and how the ventrolateral and dorsal pathway integrate to guide hawkmoth flight. Combined with environmental imaging, we demonstrate that the partitioning of the visual field followed the prevalence of visual cues in the hawkmoths’ natural habitats, while the integration hierarchy of the two pathways matched the relevance of these cues for the animals’ flight safety, rather than their magnitude in the experimental setup or in natural habitats. These results provide new mechanistic insights into the vision-based flight control of insects and link these to their natural context. We anticipate our findings to be the starting point for comparative investigations into parallel pathways for flight guidance in insects from differently structured natural habitats. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-54508ca3de9d41079c9f18dfc78f1af9 |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj-art-54508ca3de9d41079c9f18dfc78f1af92025-07-17T11:24:36ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2025-07-011410.7554/eLife.104118Integration of parallel pathways for flight control in a hawkmoth reflects prevalence and relevance of natural visual cuesRonja Bigge0https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0403-4800Rebecca Grittner1Anna Lisa Stöckl2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0833-9995Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), University of Würzburg, Biozentrum am Hubland, Würzburg, Germany; Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, GermanyBehavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), University of Würzburg, Biozentrum am Hubland, Würzburg, GermanyBehavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), University of Würzburg, Biozentrum am Hubland, Würzburg, Germany; Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, GermanyAn animal’s behaviour is the result of multiple neural pathways acting in parallel, receiving information across and within sensory modalities at the same time. How these pathways are integrated, particularly when their individual outputs are in conflict, is key to understanding complex natural behaviours. We investigated this question in the visually guided flight of the hummingbird hawkmoth Macroglossum stellatarum. These insects were recently shown to partition their visual field, using ventrolateral optic flow cues to guide their flight like most insects, while the same stimuli in the dorsal visual field evoke a novel directional response. Using behavioural experiments which set the two pathways into conflict, we tested whether and how the ventrolateral and dorsal pathway integrate to guide hawkmoth flight. Combined with environmental imaging, we demonstrate that the partitioning of the visual field followed the prevalence of visual cues in the hawkmoths’ natural habitats, while the integration hierarchy of the two pathways matched the relevance of these cues for the animals’ flight safety, rather than their magnitude in the experimental setup or in natural habitats. These results provide new mechanistic insights into the vision-based flight control of insects and link these to their natural context. We anticipate our findings to be the starting point for comparative investigations into parallel pathways for flight guidance in insects from differently structured natural habitats.https://elifesciences.org/articles/104118visionnatural scenesinsectsflightoptic flowparallel processing |
| spellingShingle | Ronja Bigge Rebecca Grittner Anna Lisa Stöckl Integration of parallel pathways for flight control in a hawkmoth reflects prevalence and relevance of natural visual cues eLife vision natural scenes insects flight optic flow parallel processing |
| title | Integration of parallel pathways for flight control in a hawkmoth reflects prevalence and relevance of natural visual cues |
| title_full | Integration of parallel pathways for flight control in a hawkmoth reflects prevalence and relevance of natural visual cues |
| title_fullStr | Integration of parallel pathways for flight control in a hawkmoth reflects prevalence and relevance of natural visual cues |
| title_full_unstemmed | Integration of parallel pathways for flight control in a hawkmoth reflects prevalence and relevance of natural visual cues |
| title_short | Integration of parallel pathways for flight control in a hawkmoth reflects prevalence and relevance of natural visual cues |
| title_sort | integration of parallel pathways for flight control in a hawkmoth reflects prevalence and relevance of natural visual cues |
| topic | vision natural scenes insects flight optic flow parallel processing |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/104118 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ronjabigge integrationofparallelpathwaysforflightcontrolinahawkmothreflectsprevalenceandrelevanceofnaturalvisualcues AT rebeccagrittner integrationofparallelpathwaysforflightcontrolinahawkmothreflectsprevalenceandrelevanceofnaturalvisualcues AT annalisastockl integrationofparallelpathwaysforflightcontrolinahawkmothreflectsprevalenceandrelevanceofnaturalvisualcues |