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First published online August 31, 2007
Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 3266-3276 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
doi: 10.1242/jeb.007831

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Haze, clouds and limited sky visibility: polarotactic orientation of crickets under difficult stimulus conditions

Miriam J. Henze^* and Thomas Labhart

Department for Neurobiology, Zoological Institute, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: miriam.henze{at}zool.uzh.ch)

Accepted 23 July 2007

Field crickets (Gryllus campestris L.) are able to detect the orientation of the electric vector (e-vector) of linearly polarized light. They presumably use this sense to exploit the celestial polarization pattern for course control or navigation. Polarization vision in crickets can be tested by eliciting a spontaneous polarotactic response. Previously, wide and 100% polarized stimuli were employed to induce this behavior. However, field crickets live on meadows where the observation of the sky is strongly limited by surrounding vegetation. Moreover, degrees of polarization (d) in the natural sky are much lower than 100%. We have therefore investigated thresholds for the behavioral response to polarized light under conditions mimicking those experienced by the insects in the field. We show that crickets are able to rely on polarized stimuli of just 1° diameter. We also provide evidence that they exploit polarization down to an (average) polarization level of less than 7%, irrespective of whether the stimulus is homogeneous, such as under haze, or patched, such as a sky spotted by clouds. Our data demonstrate that crickets can rely on skylight polarization even under unfavorable celestial conditions, emphasizing the significance of polarized skylight orientation for insects.

Key words: skylight navigation, polarization vision, behavior, Gryllus campestris

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