A Model for Detection of Angular Velocity of Image Motion Based on the Temporal Tuning of the Drosophila

We propose a new bio-plausible model based on the visual systems of Drosophila for estimating angular velocity of image motion in insects’ eyes. The model implements both preferred direction motion enhancement and non-preferred direction motion suppression which is discovered in Drosophila’s visual neural circuits recently to give a stronger directional selectivity. In addition, the angular velocity detecting model (AVDM) produces a response largely independent of the spatial frequency in grating experiments which enables insects to estimate the flight speed in cluttered environments. This also coincides with the behaviour experiments of honeybee flying through tunnels with stripes of different spatial frequencies

Vision and air flow combine to streamline flying honeybees

Insects face the challenge of integrating multi-sensory information to control their flight. Here we study a 'streamlining' response in honeybees, whereby honeybees raise their abdomen to reduce drag. We find that this response, which was recently reported to be mediated by optic flow, is also strongly modulated by the presence of air flow simulating a head wind. The Johnston's organs in the antennae were found to play a role in the measurement of the air speed that is used to control the streamlining response. The response to a combination of visual motion and wind is complex and can be explained by a model that incorporates a non-linear combination of the two stimuli. The use of visual and mechanosensory cues increases the strength of the streamlining response when the stimuli are present concurrently. We propose this multisensory integration will make the response more robust to transient disturbances in either modality