Task-specific association of photoreceptor systems and steering parameters in Drosophila

Visual motion processing enables moving fruit flies to stabilize their course and altitude and to approach selected objects. Earlier attempts to identify task-specific pathways between two photoreceptor systems (peripheral retinula cells 1-6, and central retinula cells 7 + 8) and three steering parameters (wingstroke asymmetry, abdomen deflection, hindleg deflection) attributed course control and object fixation to peripheral retinula cells 1-6-mediated simultaneous reactions of these parameters. The present investigation includes first results from fixed flying or freely walking ninaE(17) mutants which cannot synthesize the peripheral retinula cells 1-6 photoreceptor-specific opsin. Retention of about 12% of the normal course control and about 58% of the object fixation in these flies suggests partial input sharing for both responses and, possibly, a specialization for large-field (peripheral retinula cells 1-6) and small-field (central retinula cells 7 + 8) motion. Such signals must be combined to perceive relative motion between an object and its background. The combining links found in larger species might explain a previously neglected interdependence of course control and object fixation in Drosophila. - Output decomposition revealed an unexpected orchestration of steering. Wingstroke asymmetry and abdomen deflection do not contribute in fixed proportions to the yaw torque of the flight system. Different steering modes seem to be selected according to their actual efficiency under closed-loop conditions and to the degree of intended turning. An easy experimental access to abdominal steering is introduced.