Sound localization behavior in Drosophilamelanogaster depends on inter-antenna vibration amplitude comparisons.

ABSTRACT: Drosophila melanogaster hear with their antennae: sound evokes vibration of the distal antennal segment, and this vibration is transduced by specialized mechanoreceptor cells. The left and right antennae vibrate preferentially in response to sounds arising from different azimuthal angles. Therefore, by comparing signals from the two antennae, it should be possible to obtain information about the azimuthal angle of a sound source. However, behavioral evidence of sound localization has not been reported in Drosophila Here, we show that walking D. melanogaster do indeed turn in response to lateralized sounds. We confirm that this behavior is evoked by vibrations of the distal antennal segment. The rule for turning is different for sounds arriving from different locations: flies turn toward so

SUBMITTER: Batchelor AV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6381992 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature