Factors influencing the landing of maleEpiphyas postvittana (Walker) exhibiting pheromone-mediated flight (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

The effects of changes in various visual and olfactory properties of a white card surface on the landing position of male Epiphyas postvittanaexhibiting pheromone-mediated flight were studied in a wind tunnel. Males landed predominantly at the most downwind position of a surface in line with the pheromone source, regardless of the strength of the source. The position on the surface that males landed was strongly influenced by visual factors. The landing position of males appeared to be influenced by visual cues along all three axes of the surface. Decreases in either the dimension horizontally perpendicular to the wind direction or the vertical dimension resulted in greater numbers of males landing farther upwind on the surface than the downwind edge. Visual changes in the axis along the wind direction also affected the position at which males landed. For example, when presented with two white card surfaces with a 4- cm gap between them, males tended to land on the downwind edge of the upwind surface (on which the source was located). When the gap was bridged with clear Mylar, the landing pattern was significantly different, with the greater proportion of males landing on the downwind surface. However, when Mylar was placed on the plexiglass floor of the tunnel (in addition to bridging the gap), the landing pattern on the surface was not significantly different from that on the two surfaces without the Mylar bridge. It is suggested that during the prelanding and landing phases of pheromone-mediated flight, male moths orient to visual features of the surface containing the pheromone source rather than to visual features of the source (conspecific female moth) itself.     

γ-氨基丁酸、荷包牡丹碱和L-谷氨酸钠对猫和家兔同侧和对侧图形视觉诱发电位的影响

在猫和家兔大脑半球一侧视区17/18交界处施加γ—氨基丁酸(GABA)、荷包牡丹碱和L—谷氨酸钠,以及用氯化钾和冷冻阻遏的方法,记录对侧和同侧皮层相应处图形视觉诱发电位(PVEP)的变化。讨论了GABA、荷包牡丹碱和L—谷氨酸钠对猫和兔的对侧和同侧PVEP的影响。     

单眼剥夺对金黄地鼠视觉中枢GABA神经元分布的影响

用免疫细胞化学技术观察了单眼剥夺后金黄地鼠视觉中枢GABA神经元分布的变化。结果表明:单眼剥夺后,金黄地鼠视皮层和上丘的GABA阳性神经元暂时性增多,但剥夺后六个月,其数目显著减少。在单眼剥夺前和剥夺后侧膝体中GABA阳性神经元数目没有明显差异。剥夺眼对侧视皮层GABA阳性神经元数比剥夺眼同侧视皮层GABA神经元数目少。单眼剥夺后视觉中枢GABA神经元类型及形态与剥夺前没有差别。晚期单眼剥夺也能引起视觉中枢GABA神经元数量和分布的变化。以上结果表明,单眼剥夺后视觉中枢抑制神经元的结构发生了变化。     

Fly photoreceptors and temperature: Relative UV-sensitivity is increased by cooling

Intracellular responses from blowfly photoreceptor cells were recorded at various temperatures in order to study the behaviour of the transduction system, with particular reference to spectral sensitivity. with decreased temperature the V-log I functions showed a reduction in amplitude and the responses showed a slowed time course. For double peaked spectral sensitivity function the UV or 350 nm peak was much less dependent on temperature than the peak in the visible region. The higher UV-sensitivity is interpreted in terms of the sensitizing pigment theory to indicate changes in the effectiveness of energy transfer between the two chromophores.     

Determinants in the perceptions of visual blight

Research on visual blight has been predominantly qualitative and has pointed out salient attributes of blight: that it is durable, visually demeaning, and somehow aesthetically depressing. Data from a national sample (n=3005) are used in this study to measure the effect of demographic variation on the perception of visual blight. The perception of blight shows marked and regular variation with socioeconomic status, marital status, and religiosity.Harris data for this study was purchased with funds from the Shell Foundation. The author wishes to acknowledge Robert Q. Hanham, whose assistance proved invaluable.     

Orientation responses of the grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes, to visual, olfactory and wind stimuli and their combinations

Prereproductive adults of the grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes (F.) (Orthoptera, Acrididae), demonstrated orientation and movement towards both visual and olfactory stimulus sources in a still-air chamber. Visual stimuli (wheat and lima bean foliage, vertical black or yellow-green stripes, and a yellow-green broad leaf pattern) were approached more frequently than the control white background surface. Olfactory stimuli (chopped wheat foliage and a four-component, synthetic, grass odor blend of volatiles) elicited an even greater positive response than the visual stimuli. Changing the proportions of the four volatiles in the blend significantly reduced positive orientation responses to the stimulus source. Visual cues of wheat foliage and olfactory cues of either chopped wheat odor or the grass odor blend gave greater responses when combined than when presented separately.In flowing air or wind, nearly all insects demonstrated a rapid positive response to odors of chopped wheat and the grass odor blend, significantly greater than the response to the same stimuli in still air. However, positive responses to visual cues were not significantly greater in wind than in still air. When combined with the olfactory stimuli in flowing air, visual cues did not increase the incidence of response. Grasshoppers responding to grass odors in wind moved more rapidly and directly toward the source, and stopped less often and for shorter durations than insects responding to odor in still air or to visual cues.We conclude from these studies that M. sanguinipes adults show orientation behavior to both visual and olfactory stimuli from food plant sources, although leaf odors elicit a stronger positive response particularly when carried by wind.     

Some prerequisites for a study of the evolution of cognition in the animal kingdom

A distinction is made between two definitions of animal cognition: the one most frequently employed in cognitive sciences considers cognition as extracting and processing information; a more phenomenologically inspired model considers it as attributing to a form of the outside world a significance, linked to the state of the animal. The respective fields of validity of these two models are discussed along with the limitations they entail, and the questions they pose to evolutionary biologists are emphasized. This is followed by a presentation of a general overview of what might be the study of the evolution of knowledge in animals.     

Conditions for the primary culture of eye imaginal discs from Drosophila melanogaster

We have established a primary culture system for Drosophila eye imaginal discs. With this system, we were able to obtain neurite outgrowth from intact eye discs, eye disc fragments, and dissociated eye imaginal disc cells. Immunoreactivity to antibody 24B10 indicates that these extending neurites are photoreceptor axons. Three culture media were tested for their ability to support the survival of and neurite extension from eye disc fragments in vitro at 23°C. These, with supplements, were: five parts of Schneider's Drosophila medium with four parts of basal Eagle's medium (“4+5”); Leibovitz's L-15 medium (L-15); and Shields and Sang's M3 modified medium (MM3). We obtained the best results with MM3 supplemented with 2% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Eye disc fragments survived in this medium for at least 20 days. Pigmentation in the nonphotoreceptor pigment cells in cultures from the prepupa required the presence of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-HE) (1 μg/ml), whereas neurite outgrowth was seen in the absence of 20-HE. Donor animals had to fall within a range of ages to obtain appropriate eye disc differentiation in vitro. Eye discs from 5-h pupae (P+5) or older commenced ommachrome synthesis in vitro, in a temporal sequence close to that found in vivo, whereas the in vitro synthesis of this pigment was delayed in eye discs from younger flies. Average neurite length was not affected by age among pupae younger than P+5; but neurite outgrowth from P+24 was scarce, probably because by this time photoreceptor axons had already grown in vivo and were severed and unable to regenerate in vitro. Eye discs taken from third instar larvae or white prepupae continued their mitotic activity in vitro. Together with the advance of the morphogenetic furrow at the leading edge of retinal development, this observation is consistent with the evidence that pattern formation continues in vitro. Morphogenetic changes were manifested in cultures. Viability tests with calcein AM and ethidium bromide revealed few dead cells in living cultures. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Selection by wild birds on artificial dimorphic prey on varied backgrounds

Our aim was to test the effects of prey frequency and background composition on selection by free-ranging birds. We did three series of experiments with populations of grey and orange pastry prey scattered among coloured stones that made the prey either conspicuous or inconspicuous. Series 1 tested whether the predicted equilibrium frequency of the two prey types was influenced by the frequency of matching grey and orange stones. Birds at a single site were given a random sequence of combinations of prey frequency and stone frequency. Selection was dependent on background and the effect of prey frequency also varied with background. In series 2, we explored the frequency-independent effect of background: birds at five sites were given equal numbers of the two prey in three frequencies of matching stones and two of non-matching. There was a higher risk of predation for prey that matched rarer stones. In series 3 we attempted to measure, at a single site, the actual equilibrium prey frequencies in three different backgrounds: two extreme stone frequencies and one intermediate. Each experiment started with a population of equal numbers of grey and orange prey. After half the prey had been eaten we calculated the frequencies of the survivors and presented a new population of the original size but with the new prey frequencies; each experiment ran for 25 such 'generations'. The results suggested that at equilibrium the commoner 'morph' was the one that resembled the commoner colour of stone. Overall, our findings support the idea that visual selection can result in morph frequencies becoming related to the proportions of their matching background components and that this equilibrium will 'track' temporal or spatial changes in the background.     

Visual feedback in the control of pheromone-mediated flight ofHeliothis virescens males (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

MaleHeliothis virescens (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) were made to fly into a uniformly white and translucent tube within a large wind tunnel while responding to sex pheromone. Different visual patterns placed within the tube greatly affected the ability of the male moths to maintain upwind progress or remain oriented to the wind while in contact with the plume. Over 89% of males attempting to fly through a blank tube, lacking visual patterns, became disoriented, the males gaining or losing altitude and repeatedly hitting the sides of the tube. Patterns of 20–40 dots placed on the sides of the tube at or slightly above plume level resulted in high levels of sustained upwind flight (47–74%) relative to patterns placed directly below (30–40%), directly above (35%), or slightly below the level of the flight path (26–44%). Optimal upwind progression in pheromone-responding males occurred when image motion could be resolved both transversely (T), orthogonally to the longitudinal axis of the body relative to the horizontal plane of the environment, and longitudinally (L), along the body axis. Even very sparse patterns (single rows of dots) could elicit high levels of sustained upwind flight (53–63%) when positioned within the tube such that the males' movements would create both L and T image motion. However, successful negotiation of the tube was also unexpectedly facilitated by patterns apparently providing no horizontal transverse component for flying males but providing longitudinal flow while centering the moth in the plume through a symmetrical left-right input (4–40%).