Università di Firenze, Dipartimento di Biologia, Via Romana 17, 50125 Firenze, Italy
J Exp Biol. 2014 Jun 15;217(Pt 12):2041-3. doi: 10.1242/jeb.100974. Epub 2014 Apr 15.
The problem sandhoppers face when they find themselves on the dry sand is to reach as quickly as possible the belt of moist sand near the water. In the present study, I ask whether, alongside many other orienting factors, sandhoppers use the optic flow they experience to maintain their bearing relative to the sea-land axis. Adult individuals of Talitrus saltator were released in a transparent Plexiglas bowl, horizontally placed between four walls with a pattern of vertical black and white stripes. The orientation of one pair of opposite walls was south-north, orthogonal to the sea-land axis of the home beach, whilst the second pair of walls was oriented east-west. The black and white striped pattern of opposite walls could be moved in pairs and in the same direction (speed=4.8 cm s(-1)). The results demonstrate that the optic flow sandhoppers experience when moving on the sea-land axis of their home beach influences their direction of travel and could help sandhoppers in maintaining a straight path to reach favourable ground by the shortest route.
当沙蚤发现自己在干燥的沙滩上时，它们面临的问题是尽快到达靠近水的潮湿沙带。在本研究中，我想知道沙蚤是否除了许多其他定向因素外，还利用它们所经历的光流来保持相对于海陆轴的方位。成年跳虾个体被释放到一个透明的有机玻璃碗中，水平放置在四面墙壁之间，墙壁上有垂直的黑白条纹图案。一对相对墙壁的方向是南北向，与家海滩的海陆轴正交，而第二对墙壁的方向是东西向。相对墙壁的黑白条纹图案可以成对且沿同一方向移动（速度=4.8 cm s(-1)）。结果表明，当跳虾在其家海滩的海陆轴上移动时，它们所经历的光流会影响它们的行进方向，并帮助跳虾以最短的路线沿直线到达有利的地面。
