Abstract
FIVE pairs of wind-sensitive hair beds at the upper part of the head control flight posture and wing movement of locusts1–7. But the antennae of flies and bees are airflow receptors which regulate the insect's flight speed relative to the surrounding air and stabilize the flight course in the horizontal plane8–12. During tethered flight these insects hold their antennae in a characteristic flight position. Exposed to the air current of a wind tunnel, they will move their antennae actively against the direction of the air current. This movement is considered as an antennal positioning reaction, which adapts the operating range of the receptor to different air speeds10–12.
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GEWECKE, M. Antennae: Another Wind-sensitive Receptor in Locusts. Nature 225, 1263–1264 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/2251263a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2251263a0
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