Summary
Triatoma bugs turn away from a vertical black stripe on the inner surface of a rotating or oscillating drum by keeping it in the lateral visual field at an angle α relative to the long axis of the body. The value of α depends on the angular velocity w of the drum. Below w=5° s−1, α increases with increasing w, and the stripe can lie to either side of the animal. Occasionally, the bugs switch between these two tracking modes. Above w=5° s−1, α remains nearly constant at about 120° and the stripe lags behind the animal. We call this lateral tracking. At velocities over 5° s−1 the animals track the leading edge of a wide black stripe in the same manner as they track a narrow stripe. Below 5° s−1 they walk towards the centre of the stripe (skototaxis). Objects moving towards the insect above the horizon are also fixated at an angle of about 120°. Lateral tracking is mediated mainly by the dorsal part of the visual field, as can be shown by occluding either the dorsal or ventral halves of the eyes. The walking speed of the bugs increases significantly during lateral tracking of an oscillating stripe compared with that during frontal fixation of a stationary one. We therefore interpret lateral tracking as an escape response.
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Lazzari, C., Varjú, D. Visual lateral fixation and tracking in the haematophagous bug Triatoma infestans . J Comp Physiol A 167, 527–531 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00190823
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00190823