Flight control of honeybee in the Y-maze

摘要

The visual environment of the honeybee is rich with numerous cues that can be exploited for a number of purposes, including the identification of food sources and navigation. The Y-maze apparatus is widely used for behavioral test of insects, in order to examine their ability to recognize visual patterns. Behavioral changes during flight in the Y-maze are measured by counting the number of bees which crossed a decision line. However, in order to reveal the neuronal mechanisms that control flight, it is necessary to analyze the dynamical properties of flight trajectories, because visual information is changed by the honeybee's position, direction and velocity. This article presents a mathematical model for yaw control based on the optical flow and target signals.