Meeting Abstract

P1-17   -   Developing a Virtual Odor Experience for Free Flying Insects Stupski, SD*; Lopez, AP; van Breugel, F; University of Nevada, Reno; University of Nevada, Reno; University of Nevada, Reno sstupski@unr.edu

In order to locate the source of an emitted odor, insects must integrate information from several sensory modalities. Olfactory neurons in the antenna are activated by airborne odor molecules, antennal mechanosensation provides estimates of air flow, all while the insect surveys the visual field for likely candidates of an odor’s origin. Separating the role of each sensory modality in odor search, however, has proven to be a challenging problem because the statistical properties of an odor plume are necessarily driven by the wind environment. This makes it experimentally difficult to independently test which parts of insect search behaviors are driven by information from wind and which are driven by the olfaction experience. Here we have developed an experimental wind-tunnel that leverages a real time tracking system of free flying Drosophila melanogaster coupled with optogenetic activation of primary olfactory neurons within a virtual odor plume. We compare statistical properties of “odor” stimulus intermittency on the search behaviors of flying fruit flies, and draw comparisons to search processes of flies constrained to walking. We aim to use this virtual smell reality system to quantify how the statistical properties of an organism’s odor, wind and visual environment contribute to search behavior in order to develop novel bioinspired search algorithms.