Hall Joshua M, McLoughlin Dane P, Kathman Nicholas D, Yarger Alexandra M, Mureli Shwetha, Fox Jessica L
Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7080, USA.
Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7080, USA
Biol Lett. 2015 Nov;11(11). doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0845.
The halteres of flies are mechanosensory organs that provide information about body rotations during flight. We measured haltere movements in a range of fly taxa during free walking and tethered flight. We find a diversity of wing-haltere phase relationships in flight, with higher variability in more ancient families and less in more derived families. Diverse haltere movements were observed during free walking and were correlated with phylogeny. We predicted that haltere removal might decrease behavioural performance in those flies that move them during walking and provide evidence that this is the case. Our comparative approach reveals previously unknown diversity in haltere movements and opens the possibility of multiple functional roles for halteres in different fly behaviours.
苍蝇的平衡棒是机械感觉器官，在飞行过程中提供有关身体旋转的信息。我们测量了一系列苍蝇类群在自由行走和系留飞行期间平衡棒的运动。我们发现在飞行中翅膀与平衡棒的相位关系具有多样性，在较古老的类群中变异性较高，而在较进化的类群中变异性较低。在自由行走期间观察到了多样的平衡棒运动，并且这些运动与系统发育相关。我们预测，去除平衡棒可能会降低那些在行走时移动平衡棒的苍蝇的行为表现，并提供了这一情况的证据。我们的比较方法揭示了平衡棒运动中以前未知的多样性，并开启了平衡棒在不同苍蝇行为中具有多种功能作用的可能性。
