Institute of Neuroscience, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
J Exp Biol. 2019 Feb 6;222(Pt Suppl 1):jeb186148. doi: 10.1242/jeb.186148.
Many casual observers typecast as a stationary pest that lurks around fruit and wine. However, the omnipresent fruit fly, which thrives even in desert habitats, likely established and maintained its cosmopolitan status via migration over large spatial scales. To perform long-distance dispersal, flies must actively maintain a straight compass heading through the use of external orientation cues, such as those derived from the sky. In this Review, we address how accomplishes long-distance navigation using celestial cues. We focus on behavioral and physiological studies indicating that fruit flies can navigate both to a pattern of linearly polarized light and to the position of the sun - the same cues utilized by more heralded insect navigators such as monarch butterflies and desert ants. In both cases, fruit flies perform menotaxis, selecting seemingly arbitrary headings that they then maintain over time. We discuss how the fly's nervous system detects and processes this sensory information to direct the steering maneuvers that underlie navigation. In particular, we highlight recent findings that compass neurons in the central complex, a set of midline neuropils, are essential for navigation. Taken together, these results suggest that fruit flies share an ancient, latent capacity for celestial navigation with other insects. Furthermore, they illustrate the potential of to help us to elucidate both the cellular basis of navigation and mechanisms of directed dispersal on a landscape scale.
许多偶然的观察者将其归类为潜伏在水果和酒周围的固定害虫。然而，无处不在的果蝇即使在沙漠栖息地也能茁壮成长，它可能通过在大的空间尺度上进行迁移来建立和维持其世界性地位。为了进行长距离扩散，苍蝇必须积极地通过使用外部定向线索（例如源自天空的线索）来保持直的罗盘航向。在这篇综述中，我们探讨了果蝇如何使用天体线索进行长距离导航。我们重点介绍了行为和生理研究，这些研究表明，果蝇既可以向线偏振光的模式导航，也可以向太阳的位置导航——与更著名的昆虫导航者（如帝王蝶和沙漠蚂蚁）所利用的相同线索。在这两种情况下，果蝇都进行趋光性导航，选择看似任意的航向，然后随着时间的推移保持该航向。我们讨论了苍蝇的神经系统如何检测和处理这些感官信息，以指导导航所必需的转向操作。特别是，我们强调了最近的发现，即中央复合体中的罗盘神经元（一组中线神经节）对于导航至关重要。综上所述，这些结果表明，果蝇与其他昆虫共享一种古老的、潜在的天体导航能力。此外，它们说明了果蝇在阐明导航的细胞基础和景观尺度上的定向扩散机制方面的潜力。
