Behavioral and electrophysiological study of insect polarization vision by simultaneous recording of polarotactic behavior and brain neural activities.

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25440168
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Animal physiology/Animal behavior
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Sakura Midori 神戸大学, 理学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (60421989)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): OKADA Ryuichi 兵庫県立大学, 環境人間学部, 研究員 (20423006)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: ナビゲーション / 太陽コンパス / e-ベクトル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Many insects use polarization pattern of the sky for orientation and navigation. Honeybees show clear polarotaxis to a certain e-vector orientation. In this study, polarotactic behavior of the bee trained to visit an artificial feeder was analyzed. The bees caught at the feeder oriented to the e-vector they experienced during their foraging flight, indicating that they utilized polarized light information from the sky to memorize the food location and to adjust their flight direction. In addition, an extracellular recording method from polarization-sensitive neurons in the bee brain was developed, which allows us to monitor neural responses of a flying tethered bee brain in a flight simulator.

Free Research Field

神経行動学