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Free flight maneuvers of stalk-eyed flies: do eye-stalks affect aerial turning behavior?

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Abstract

The eyes of stalk-eyed flies (Diopsidae) are positioned at the end of rigid peduncles projected laterally from the head. In dimorphic species the eye-stalks of males exceed the eye-stalks of females and can exceed body length. Eye-stalk length is sexually selected in males improving male reproductive success. We tested whether the long eye-stalks have a negative effect on free-flight and aerial turning behavior by analyzing the morphology and free-flight trajectories of male and female Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni. At flight posture the mass-moment-of-inertia for rotation about a vertical axis was 1.49-fold higher in males. Males also showed a 5% increase in wing length compared to females. During free-flight females made larger turns than males (54 ± 31.4 vs. 49 ± 36.2°, t test, P < 0.033) and flew faster while turning (9.4 ± 5.45 vs. 8.4 ± 6.17 cm s−1, ANOVA, P < 0.021). However, turning performance of both sexes overlapped, and turn rate in males even marginally exceeded turn rate in females (733 ± 235.3 vs. 685 ± 282.6 deg s−1, ANCOVA, P < 0.047). We suggest that the increase in eye-span does result in an increase in the mechanical requirements for aerial turning but that male C. dalmanni are capable of compensating for the constraint of longer eye-stalks during the range of turns observed through wingbeat kinematics and increased wing size.

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Abbreviations

MOI:

Moment of inertia

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the help provided by G. S. Wilkinson in establishing C. dalmnni population in our lab. S. N. Fry helped in configuration and troubleshooting of the tracking system. D. Jolkowski, A. Egge, H. Moline, and T. Eviatar-Ribak helped in fly care and in the experiments. We thank Y. Brant for discussions on statistical analysis. The work was funded by NSF-grant No. IOB0448060.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, 57069, USA

    Gal Ribak & John G. Swallow

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  1. Gal Ribak
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  2. John G. Swallow
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Correspondence to Gal Ribak.

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Ribak, G., Swallow, J.G. Free flight maneuvers of stalk-eyed flies: do eye-stalks affect aerial turning behavior?. J Comp Physiol A 193, 1065–1079 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-007-0259-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-007-0259-1

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