Multisensory Processing in the Hawkmoth Manduca sexta

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Multisensory Processing in the Hawkmoth Manduca sexta Anna Balkenius1*, Christian Balkenius2 and Marie Dacke3 1 Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Department of Chemical Ecology, Sweden 2 Lund University Cognitive Science, Sweden 3 Lund University, Department of Biology, Sweden The world around us is rich in multisensory stimuli. Since different modes of sensory input (for example from a visual or scented stimulus) are not influenced by the same sources of noise, a combination of signals conveyed by different senses reduces the risk of incorrect information. Multisensory redundancy can thus provide a large advantage for animals to reliably detect and correctly identify prey species or flowers rich in nectar. Studies on the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta, demonstrate complex interactions of colour and odour in behaviour. The neuronal activity in the mushroom body of the hawkmoth has also been demonstrated to vary with the specific colours and odours that are presented to the moth. When approaching a scented and clearly visible feeding target (multimodal stimulus) the moths turn towards the target and decrease their flight speed earlier than if the clearly visible feeding target carries no scent (unimodal stimulus). When approaching a scented, but effectively invisible feeding target, the moths decrease their flight speed less and fly past or crash into the target. Scent alone can thus guide the moth to the location of the flower, but visual information seems necessary for the moth to accurately slow down in front of the feeding target. Our latest results indicate that M. sexta perceive a multimodal target as its two separate modalities; colour and odour, rather than as a unique fused target. Instead, they react as if they had learned the significance of each modality individually. These findings differ from earlier studies of desert ants that perceive a combination of individual modalities (vision and odour) as a unique fused stimulus after a series of learning trials. A non-fused sensory system possibly supports a flexible feeding system over a highly precise one, which would be beneficial to a migrating moth that frequently changes its feeding area. When the moth was trained to the multisensory feeding target used in our latest study, we did not record any significant effects until after four to seven trials. This behavioral results is well in line with earlier measurements of the activity in the brain where a learned response to a multimodal stimulus could not be detected in the mushroom body until after six rewarded trails. This contrasts with unimodal colour learning where behavioural effects can be seen after a single trial. Keywords: colour, odour, multimodal, hawkmoth, Brain activity Conference: International Conference on Invertebrate Vision, Fjälkinge, Sweden, 1 Aug - 8 Aug, 2013. Presentation Type: Oral presentation preferred Topic: Colour and polarisation vision Citation: Balkenius A, Balkenius C and Dacke M (2019). Multisensory Processing in the Hawkmoth Manduca sexta. Front. Physiol. Conference Abstract: International Conference on Invertebrate Vision. doi: 10.3389/conf.fphys.2013.25.00026 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 26 Feb 2013; Published Online: 09 Dec 2019. * Correspondence: Dr. Anna Balkenius, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Department of Chemical Ecology, Alnarp, 23053, Sweden, anna.balkenius@slu.se Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Anna Balkenius Christian Balkenius Marie Dacke Google Anna Balkenius Christian Balkenius Marie Dacke Google Scholar Anna Balkenius Christian Balkenius Marie Dacke PubMed Anna Balkenius Christian Balkenius Marie Dacke Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.