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The Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 1531-1545 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

The locust tegula: kinematic parameters and activity pattern during the wing stroke

Hanno Fischer^1,*, Harald Wolf² and Ansgar Büschges³

¹ School of Biology, Bute Medical Buildings, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TS, Scotland
² Neurobiologie, Universität Ulm, D-89069 Ulm, Germany
³ Zoologisches Institut, Universität Köln, Weyertal 119, D-50923 Köln, Germany

^* e-mail: hf4{at}st-andrews.ac.uk

Accepted 15 March 2002

The tegula is a complex, knob-shaped sense organ associated with the base of the locust wing. Despite a detailed knowledge of its role in flight motor control, little is known about the relationship between the stroke parameters of the wing, movement of the tegula organ and the pattern of tegula activity. In this study, therefore, the kinematic parameters of the fore- and hindwings were investigated with respect to the tegula activity pattern during tethered flight. The following results were obtained. (i) The tegula moves through a complex three-dimensional trajectory during the wing stroke, involving inclination and rotation about its longitudinal axis. (ii) The kinematic parameters of tegula movement are phase-locked to the wing stroke and vary in conjunction with wing stroke parameters such as amplitude and cycle period. (iii) In accordance with these phase-locked kinematics, both the onset of tegula activity with respect to the downstroke (latency) and the discharge of the organ (burst duration and amplitude) vary in conjunction with downstroke movement and cycle period, resulting in an (almost) constant phase of tegula activation during the stroke cycle. (iv) The pattern of tegula activity during flight is largely independent of stroke amplitude. (v) The latency, burst duration and amplitude of tegula activity are strongly related to the angular velocity of the wing during the downstroke, with latency reaching a steady minimum value at higher angular velocities. The data suggest that the tegula encodes the timing and velocity of the downstroke and that it may be involved in the control of the stroke's angular velocity.

Key words: locust, sensorimotor system, tegula, insect, flight, wing stroke parameter, wing hinge element, Locusta migratoria

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