... mechanism underlying the evolution of vision in recent diurnal–nocturnal transition is poorly understood. Here, we focus on hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) to address this question by investigating five nocturnal and five diurnal species. We performed RNA-sequencing analysis and identified opsin genes...

...Elisabeth Adam; Bill S. Hansson; Markus Knaden ABSTRACT Insect pollinators, such as the tobacco hawkmoth Manduca sexta , are known for locating flowers and learning floral odors by using their antennae. A recent study revealed, however, that the tobacco hawkmoth additionally possesses olfactory...

... feeding behavior of crepuscular hawkmoths Manduca sexta , which use their long, actively controlled, proboscis to expertly explore flower-like surfaces. Using machine vision and 3D-printed artificial flower-like feeders, we revealed a novel behavior that shows moths actively probe surfaces, sweeping...

... described control strategies to navigate enclosed environments are also used by insects with a different optical system, flight kinematics and phylogenetic background. We tested the role of lateral visual cues for forward flight control in the hummingbird hawkmoth Macroglossum stellatarum (Sphingidae...

...Anna Balkenius; Marie Dacke SUMMARY Here, we analyse the flight behaviour of the hawkmoth Manduca sexta while it approaches three different artificial flower stimuli: a clearly visible blue flower, an invisible scented flower and a flower that is both visible and scented. By tracking the moths...

...Anna Balkenius; Sonja Bisch-Knaden; Bill Hansson SUMMARY The responses to bimodal stimuli consisting of odour and colour were recorded using calcium-sensitive optical imaging in the mushroom bodies of the hawkmoth Manduca sexta . The results show that the activity in the mushroom bodies...

...Hao Wang; Noriyasu Ando; Ryohei Kanzaki SUMMARY By combining optical triangulation with the comb-fringe technique and dual-channel telemetry, wing kinematics and body attitudes accompanying muscle activities of free-flying male hawkmoths were recorded synchronously when they performed flight...

... hawkmoth hovering leading-edge vortex (LEV) near-field flow unsteady aerodynamics Flapping-flying insects employ unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms to keep them afloat, and there have been many studies on this topic( Ellington, 1984a ; Ellington, 1984b ; Ellington, 1984c ; Ellington, 1984d...

...Joaquín Goyret; Poppy M. Markwell; Robert A. Raguso SUMMARY Within an appetitive context, Manduca sexta , a nectivorous nocturnal hawkmoth, can be attracted by a range of stimuli including floral volatiles and visual display, carbon dioxide and water vapor. Several studies on this and other flower...

...Jordanna D. H. Sprayberry; Thomas L. Daniel SUMMARY As hovering feeders, hawkmoths cope with flower motions by tracking those motions to maintain contact with the nectary. This study examined the tracking, feeding and energetic performance of Manduca sexta feeding from flowers moving at varied...

..., twilight, full moon, new moon, and in the presence of high levels of light pollution. The spectra were then converted to both human-based chromaticities and to relative quantum catches for the nocturnal hawkmoth Deilephila elpenor , which has color vision. The reflectance spectra of various flowers...

...Richard J. Bomphrey; Nicholas J. Lawson; Nicholas J. Harding; Graham K. Taylor; Adrian L. R. Thomas SUMMARY Here we present the first digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV)analysis of the flow field around the wings of an insect (the tobacco hawkmoth Manduca sexta , tethered to a 6-component...

...Anna Balkenius; Almut Kelber SUMMARY Diurnal and nocturnal hawkmoths have been shown to use colour vision for flower discrimination. Here, we present evidence that the nocturnal hawkmoth Deilephila elpenor and the diurnal hawkmoth Macroglossum stellatarum also have colour constancy. Colour...

...James R. Usherwood; Charles P. Ellington SUMMARY Recent work on flapping hawkmoth models has demonstrated the importance of a spiral `leading-edge vortex' created by dynamic stall, and maintained by some aspect of spanwise flow, for creating the lift required during flight. This study uses...

...Mark A. Frye SUMMARY To characterize the in vivo responses of the wing hinge stretch receptor of Manduca sexta , I recorded its activity and simultaneously tracked the up-and-down motion of the wing while the hawkmoth flew tethered in a wind tunnel. The stretch receptor fires a high-frequency burst...

... the effects of stretch receptor ablation on the visual control of lift during flight in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta . Using a combination of extracellular muscle recordings, force and position measurements and high-speed video recording, I tracked power muscle activity, net vertical flight force (lift...

...Lutz T. Wasserthal SUMMARY Intratracheal pressure during tethered flight was analyzed at the anterior spiracles and mesoscutellar air sacs in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta using electronic pressure sensors. CO 2 emission from the anterior spiracles and the posterior thoracic and abdominal spiracles...

...Diane M. O’Brien ABSTRACT Fuel use varies widely among insects; however, the potential determinants of variation in fuel use have not been explored experimentally. This study examines whether fuel use during tethered flight depends upon feeding status in the nectarivorous hawkmoth Amphion...

...Yutaka Komai ABSTRACT The properties of the gas transport system in a tethered flying insect were investigated by directly measuring the oxygen partial pressure in a wing muscle of the sweet potato hawkmoth Agrius convolvuli using a needle electrode. At rest, a distribution of corresponding...

...Hao Liu; Charles P. Ellington; Keiji Kawachi; Coen Van Den Berg; Alexander P. Willmott ABSTRACT A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modelling approach is used to study the unsteady aerodynamics of the flapping wing of a hovering hawkmoth. We use the geometry of a Manduca sexta -based robotic wing...