An ocellar-based flight control system for flying insects

Flying insects detect unintentional changes in attitude by combining information from several senses. Among their sensory arsenal are three simple lens eyes, known as the dorsal ocelli. These eyes are capable of detecting fast changes in the pitch or roll of the head and are lower latency than the compound eyes. We used a small optical stimulator with three independently controlled LEDs, one at each of the ocelli, to control the head movements of a locust (Americana). Our preliminary results show that this system can control the roll of the head of a tethered but actively “flying” insect. Further experiments with wireless untethered insects will be used to examine the effects of the induced head movements on the insects' three dimensional flight path. Our system holds the promise of surgery-free control of insect flight.