D.N. LAPSHIN

HOW DO NOCTID MOTHS INTERPRET ACOUSTIC STIMULI VARYING IN DEGREE OF SYNCHRONIZATION WITH FLIGHT RHYTHM

We have studied the behavior of noctuid moths (Noctuidae) flying attached to a flexible wire lead. The forward propulsion of a moth were measured. Moths were presented with continuous series of acoustic stimuli. Every stimulus was a short noise pulse. Initially at the recording onset the stimuli were synchronized with the wingbeats thus imitating the flight noise. After 7 seconds of such stimulation the synchronization was switched off so that later on the stimuli appeared with the rhythm independent from the behavior of a moth. As a response to the loss of synchronization noctuid moths produced the abrupt changes in the forward aerodynamic propulsion. We conclude that the degree of synchronization between the perceived sounds and the flight rhythm is significant to the noctuid moth.