Distance estimation and the monocular cleaning reflex in praying mantis

Maldonado, Héctor; Levin, Luis E.

doi:10.1007/bf00333670

Cited by 32 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…When mantises are restrained and/or their movements are restricted, their strike and lunge appear to be quite ste reotyped [e.g. Maldonado et al, 1967]. On the other hand, the strike and lunge of Tenoclera ctriclifolia sinensis (Sauss.).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Do the strike and the lunge form a single attack movement sequence, or are they separate behaviors? Does successful prey capture require that the strike be highly sterotyped (e.g., do the forelegs have to form a precise angle at the moment of cap ture [Loxlon and Nicholls, 1979;Maldonado et al, 1967]). or has the behavior evolved as a generalized prey capture technique?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Predatory Strike of Free Ranging Praying Mantises, <i>Sphodromantis lineola </i>(Burmeister). I: Strikes in the Mid-Sagittal Plane

Prete¹,

Cleal²

1996

Brain Behav Evol

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The predatory behavior of free ranging praying mantises, Sphodromantis lineola (Burmeister), in response to prey at various positions in the midsagittal plane, was examined using high speed (200 frames per second) videography. Predatory strikes fell neatly into two categories based on the elevation of the prey from the surface on which the mantises stood: high strikes and low strikes. When the prey was 35° or more above the surface (measured from the mesothoracic tarsus), mantises assumed a posture that elevated and pointed the body upwards (high strikes). When prey was near or below the surface on which the mantises stood, they assumed a posture that lowered the body and shifted its center of gravity forward (low strikes). Each of these two initial postures was followed by distinctly different constellations of movements, which included a rapid grasping movement of the raptorial forelegs and, if the prey was sufficiently distant, a displacement of the body upwards (high strikes) or forwards (low strikes). Our analyses suggest that prothoracic angle and, to a lesser degree, head angle and the degree to which the mesothoracic legs are extended provide the critical proprioceptive cues used in programming the appropriate attack sequence. Based on our results, we hypothesize that mantises process visual and proprioceptive information indicating prey location in ''pterothorax-centered space''.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Predatory Strike of Free Ranging Praying Mantises, <i>Sphodromantis lineola </i>(Burmeister). I: Strikes in the Mid-Sagittal Plane

Prete¹,

Cleal²

1996

Brain Behav Evol

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“…In the mantis, Coptopteryx uiridis, however, visual input has been shown t o stimulate head grooming, provided the stimulus is received monocularly and subtends a suitable angle at the eye (Maldonado and Levin, 1967). We conclude, therefore, that stimulation of the corneal surface is sufficient, though not necessary, to initiate head-grooming behavior in the mantis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…These experiments have clearly shown that receptors on the eye's surface can initiate head-grooming behavior and that, under these experimental conditions, the process is not initiated by a distortion of the visual field. In the mantis, Coptopteryx uiridis, however, visual input has been shown t o stimulate head grooming, provided the stimulus is received monocularly and subtends a suitable angle at the eye (Maldonado and Levin, 1967). We conclude, therefore, that stimulation of the corneal surface is sufficient, though not necessary, to initiate head-grooming behavior in the mantis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Interommatidial sensilla of the praying mantis: Their central neural projections and role in head‐cleaning behavior

Zack

Bacon

1981

J. Neurobiol.

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The compound eye of the praying mantis is covered with approximately 600 bristles and campaniform sensilla. Their afferents project to the brain, and to the suboesophageal and prothoracic ganglia. Cutting the eye branch of the dorsal tegumentary nerve (DTN), the peripheral nerve innervating the corneal sensilla, makes it impossible to initiate head grooming by tactile stimulation of the eye. This stimulus is a strong releaser of grooming behavior in normal animals. Head grooming can be initiated, after cutting the eye branch of the DTN, by stimulation of the frons (the operation leaves the sensory innervation of this part of the cuticle intact). Frame-by-frame analysis of films of head grooming after cutting the nerve reveals a reduction of the speed at which the forelimb is brushed across the surface of the head and eye. The significance of this finding is discussed in terms of a putative feedback loop from the corneal sensilla to the motor neurons controlling the grooming movements.

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“…Striking distance is precisely estimated by a binocular triangulation mechanism of the visual 391 system (Maldonado and Levin, 1967), with the longest distance that elicits a strike being 392 related to the length of the fore legs in each developmental stage (Balderrama and 393 Maldonado, 1973). The growth of the head and the eyes is such that throughout development 394 the fovea registers a stimulus at the maximum catching distance.…”

Section: Fifth Instar and Adult Locusts Use The Same Effector And Movmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aimed Limb Movements in a Hemimetabolous Insect are Intrinsically Compensated for Allometric Wing Growth by Developmental Mechanisms

Patel

Matheson

2019

Preprint

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For aimed limb movements to remain functional they must be adapted to developmental changes in body morphology and sensory-motor systems. Insects use their limbs to groom the body surface or to dislodge external stimuli, but they face the particular problem of adapting these movements to step-like changes in body morphology during metamorphosis or moulting. Locusts are hemimetabolous insects in which the imaginal moult to adulthood results in a sudden and dramatic allometric growth of the wings relative to the body and the legs. We show that, despite this, hind limb scratches aimed at mechanosensory stimuli on the wings remain targeted to appropriate locations after moulting. In juveniles, the tips of the wings extend less than half way along the abdomen, but in adults they extend well beyond the posterior end. Kinematic analyses were used to examine the scratching responses of juveniles (5th instars) and adults to touch of anterior (wing base) and posterior (distal abdomen) targets that develop isometrically, and to wing tip targets that are anterior in juveniles but posterior in adults. Juveniles reach the (anterior) wing tip with the distal tibia of the hind leg using anterior rotation of the thoraco-coxal and coxo-trochanteral (‘hip’) joints and flexion of the femoro-tibial (‘knee’) joint. Adults, however, reach the corresponding (but now posterior) wing tip using posterior rotation of the hip and extension of the knee, reflecting a different underlying motor pattern. This change in kinematics occurs immediately after the adult moult without learning, indicating that the switch is developmentally programmed.SUMMARY STATEMENTA developmentally programmed change in the scratching movements of locusts permits adult animals to aim their movements at new wing tip targets, without learning.

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Distance estimation and the monocular cleaning reflex in praying mantis

Cited by 32 publications

References 5 publications

The Predatory Strike of Free Ranging Praying Mantises, <i>Sphodromantis lineola </i>(Burmeister). I: Strikes in the Mid-Sagittal Plane

The Predatory Strike of Free Ranging Praying Mantises, <i>Sphodromantis lineola </i>(Burmeister). I: Strikes in the Mid-Sagittal Plane

Interommatidial sensilla of the praying mantis: Their central neural projections and role in head‐cleaning behavior

Aimed Limb Movements in a Hemimetabolous Insect are Intrinsically Compensated for Allometric Wing Growth by Developmental Mechanisms

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