Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
J Exp Biol. 2018 Jul 25;221(Pt 14):jeb181719. doi: 10.1242/jeb.181719.
Animals detect the force of gravity with multiple sensory organs, from subcutaneous receptors at body joints to specialized sensors like the vertebrate inner ear. The halteres of flies, specialized mechanoreceptive organs derived from hindwings, are known to detect body rotations during flight, and some groups of flies also oscillate their halteres while walking. The dynamics of halteres are such that they could act as gravity detectors for flies standing on substrates, but their utility during non-flight behaviors is not known. We observed the behaviors of intact and haltere-ablated flies during walking and during perturbations in which the acceleration due to gravity suddenly changed. We found that intact halteres are necessary for flies to maintain normal walking speeds on vertical surfaces and to respond to sudden changes in gravity. Our results suggest that halteres can serve multiple sensory purposes during different behaviors, expanding their role beyond their canonical use in flight.
动物通过多个感觉器官来感知重力，从身体关节的皮下感受器到脊椎动物内耳等专门传感器。蝇类的平衡棒是从后翅衍生而来的专门机械感受器，已知在飞行中可检测身体的旋转，一些蝇类群体在行走时也会摆动它们的平衡棒。平衡棒的动力学特性使其可以作为蝇类站在基质上的重力探测器，但它们在非飞行行为中的用途尚不清楚。我们观察了完整和平衡棒切除的蝇类在行走以及在重力加速度突然改变的情况下的行为。我们发现，完整的平衡棒对于蝇类在垂直表面上维持正常的行走速度以及对重力的突然变化做出反应是必要的。我们的结果表明，平衡棒在不同的行为中可以发挥多种感觉功能，扩大了它们在飞行以外的用途。
