J.W. Dawson, K. Dawson-Scully and R.M. Robertson.
Locusts encounter and react to a variety of stimuli while flying.
Previous studies have shown that locusts will fly away from an approaching visual target, bat-like sounds, or an intense radiant heat source. These avoidance manoeuvres are accomplished with stereotyped changes in body posture and wing movements. Forewing movements show asymmetric depression followed by symmetric elevation where as hindwing movement remains symmetric during depression and elevation. We have investigated the motor patterns underlying wing movements during avoidance steering electromyographically. We propose that different sensory cues elicit a distinct in-flight avoidance manoeuvre which is mediated by a common motor pattern.