Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
Volume 212, Issue 10, Pages 1463-1476Publisher
COMPANY BIOLOGISTS LTD
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.028381
Keywords
ethogram; tactile orientation; antennae; ocelli; vision; climb; tunnel; Blaberus discoidalis; cockroach; dark; light; ethogram; bilateral antennectomy; short antennae; antennal lesion
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Funding
- National Science Foundation [I0B 0516587]
- AFOSR [FA9550- 07- 1- 0149]
- NSF IGERT [DGE 9972747]
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Within natural environments, animals must be able to respond to a wide range of obstacles in their path. Such responses require sensory information to facilitate appropriate and effective motor behaviors. The objective of this study was to characterize sensors involved in the complex control of obstacle negotiation behaviors in the cockroach Blaberus discoidalis. Previous studies suggest that antennae are involved in obstacle detection and negotiation behaviors. During climbing attempts, cockroaches swing their front leg that then either successfully reaches the top of the block or misses. The success of these climbing attempts was dependent on their distance from the obstacle. Cockroaches with shortened antennae were closer to the obstacle prior to climbing than controls, suggesting that distance was related to antennal length. Removing the antennal flagellum resulted in delays in obstacle detection and changes in climbing strategy from targeted limb movements to less directed attempts. A more complex scenario - a shelf that the cockroach could either climb over or tunnel under - allowed us to further examine the role of sensory involvement in path selection. Ultimately, antennae contacting the top of the shelf led to climbing whereas contact on the underside led to tunneling However, in the light, cockroaches were biased toward tunnelling; a bias which was absent in the dark. Selective covering of visual structures suggested that this context was determined by the ocelli.
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