Visual Insect Neuroethology Group

Excited to share my first PhD preprint! w/ Sören Kannegieser and @anna-stoeckl.bsky.social @insect-vision.bsky.social

We investigated how hawkmoths coordinate lateralized sensory and motor control for appendage guidance, revealing similar control principles to vertebrates doi.org/10.64898/202...

For press release #UniKonstanz
@cbehav.bsky.social t1p.de/h15yj

L1/L2 synapse distributions predict both spatial summation and lateral inhibition, which are both performed by these neurons, the former in dim, the latter in bright light. We suggest that summation and inhibition segregate into separate layers in a single L1/L2 cell.

L1 / L2 spatial response profiles also do not show two distinct clusters, and neither does their spatial anatomy, which is highly variable, but does not delineate with cell type.

Unlike in fruit flies, where L1 and L2 differ in their luminance and contrast responses, we find that hawkmoth L1 / L2 provide mirror-symmetrical information to downstream motion vision. They respond only to contrast, not luminance, and have faster hyperpolarising than depolarising dynamics.

We provide novel classification of hawkmoth lamina monopolar cells, and surprisingly found 5 cell types: there are 2 of the previously described type II LMCs in each cartridge – identified as homologous to fly L1 / L2. We propose homology of all cell types based on morphology and connectivity.

New paper from the lab, led by @ronjabigge.bsky.social, in collaboration with Kentaro Arikawa. We reconcile contrast and spatial processing functions of lamina monopolar cells by integrating 3D morphology, connectivity and neurophysiology in the hummingbird hawkmoth. tinyurl.com/mvnh3325
For more 👇

Visiting the Merz Akademie in Stuttgart for our science-art collaboration with the Akademie and @zukunftskolleg.bsky.social Konstanz. Excited to see the final student projects inspired by vision in insects after this field trip!

Season's Greetings from the Lab in our most - Christmas party award winning !! - festive attire. 🎄👼🐮👑🐑⭐
With animalistic support from @jjfosterlab.bsky.social

Happy holidays and a great start into the New Year to you all!

extra Christmassy stars to anyone who guesses what we are 😉

We had a rather unexpected presenter at our lab meeting this morning 😄🪲🎓

New work from our neighbours @jjfosterlab.bsky.social lab with lead ‪@gkolyfetis.bsky.social‬
- check out their findings on the coupling of #photoreceptors in different #bee species 🐝👇👇

Our findings on bees' photoreceptors are now officially published in Biology Letters of the Royal Society Publishing!! Thanks again for a productive collaboration @jjfosterlab.bsky.social and @gregoeur.bsky.social !!
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

#ABL2025 Plenary Spotlight: Dr Anna Stöckl @anna-stoeckl.bsky.social ⭐

Join us on Nov 13-14 to learn how Dr Stöckl’s team @insect-vision.bsky.social unravelled the fascinating ways in which pollinators see the hidden patterns of flowers.🦋🌻

Learn more about the conference: ablaoc25.sciencesconf.org

This hierarchy does not reflect the strength of optic flow or contrast cues in our experimental setups or in the natural visual environment of hawkmoths.

Long story short: both pathways act in parallel, and shape flight with equal contributions when not in conflict. If in conflict, the dorsal response has a stronger impact on the moths' flight position, tortuosity and speed than the ventrolateral optic flow response.

Hawkmoths respond primarily to translational optic flow in their ventrolateral visual field, while they respond with a novel response to directional elements of dorsal contrast features. See also: www.cell.com/current-biol...
We set out to test how these two pathways interact.

Integration of parallel pathways for flight control in a hawkmoth reflects prevalence and relevance of natural visual cues In vision-based flight control of hummingbird hawkmoths, the visual field partitions by natural cue prevalence into an optic flow and dorsal directional pathway, which integrate according to their rel...

New work from the lab - final version out: #parallel #processing #optic_flow #flight #vision In hummingbird hawkmoth flight control, natural input prevalence shapes the visual field partitioning of two parallel pathways, but safety relevance determines the integration hierarchy. tinyurl.com/bdfsxea2

Check out the newest episode of our podcast "In the Swarm"!

Have you ever wondered how tiny insects navigate the world? In this episode, @anna-stoeckl.bsky.social explains how the tiny but mighty insect brain controls behaviour of stunning complexity.

www.exc.uni-konstanz.de/collective-b...

Float like a hawkmoth and drink like one too! What better way to understand insect behaviour? 🍹🦋🍹
An exciting evening of science outreach by the lake, by @cbehav.bsky.social ‪‪‪@excinequality.bsky.social‬
With moth impersonators:
@emmarusconi.bsky.social @manel-a-pama.bsky.social ky.social‬

We couldn't be prouder - the first PhD student from our group just defended!🎓✨
Huge congratulations to Ronja on an amazing thesis and a well-earned title.
Cheers to you, Dr. Bigge🥂🦋

Bumblebees flexibly adjust learning and decision strategies to sensory information content in a foraging task - preLights so many features…so little time: bumblebees show optimization of cue integration in a memory task.

So many features…so little time: bumblebees show optimization of cue integration in a memory task. 🐝🐝

Really entertaining #preLight prepared by Tim Schwanitz & Cemre Coskun in which they highlight recent work from @anna-stoeckl.bsky.social & team ⬇️ 👀

prelights.biologists.com/highlights/b...

We are excited to have Aruna visit our lab over the summer as part of her PhD! She is investigating how hawkmoths actively shape their flight trajectories to better sense the spatial layout of their environment while working towards a 3D tracking system to accurately capture their movement!

Welcome to the LAB: Emma Rusconi @emmarusconi.bsky.social

We are excited that Emma has recently joined us as a research assistant! She is currently investigating how bumblebees generalize visual patterns, and will soon investigate how nocturnal moths navigate in different light conditions.

New review about "Path integration and optic flow in flying insects" doi.org/10.1007/s003.... One of the questions asked, where in the visual field insects perceive optic flow, is addressed and discussed in our recent work: doi.org/10.1016/j.cu... doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Welcome to the LAB: Farhan Rafique Shah @arha2.bsky.social

Farhan joined the team this year to pursue his #PhD . He will study natural and polluted light environments, and how these are perceived by nocturnal moths. To learn more, check out his page: (www.insect-vision.com/farhan-shah)

Big Cheers to @ronjabigge.bsky.social who is submitting her PhD thesis today 🍾🥳.

We had a fantastic #retreat in the Black Forest together with @jjfosterlab.bsky.social and Nouvian labs. We escaped rooms, worked on laboratory code of conduct, went hiking, learned about first aid, data visualisation and pose estimation, brainstormed science and went wild playing games!

Hawkmoths exploring new spaces - what a wonderful location for a talk about night vision in insects 🦋✨. Thank you #Kortizes and Planetarium #Nürnberg for the invitation and the great organisation. An extra big thank you to the wonderful audience!!
🙏 @jjfosterlab.bsky.social for the 📸

Looking for any new year's resolutions? How about submitting a paper to a special issue: #Neuroethology of #Lepidoptera ↘️https://link.springer.com/collections/ccdhceiegi↙️ edited by @anna-stoeckl.bsky.social, Kentaro Arikawa and Basil el Jundi 🦋🧠

🎄🎁🎄We're celebrating another buzzing year at the insect vision lab. Season's greetings and a happy new year from our hive to yours 🎉🦋🐝🎉
#Moths #Happyholidays