Features effective in course control during object fixation by walking Colorado beetles
1993
Lonnendonker, U.
A test paradigm is designed to determine which features of viewed objects (a disk 10 degrees in diameter) are responsible for preferential fixation by Colorado beetles (Leptinotarsa decemlineata). The beetle walks on a locomotion compensator that permits free choice of direction in a visual surround containing three different objects. The beetles use both colour and contrast information in these choice experiments. The preferred colours are yellow and orange; their attractiveness is considerably enhanced when they appear in a pattern with highly contrasting features such as stripes. In its "optimal" form, the object amounts to a dummy beetle, with a pattern that resembles the markings on the elytra of this species. Since the beetles appear to employ a contact pheromone for sex recognition, the function of orientation to these patterns is unclear. However, the patterns might accelerate the identification of conspecifics or be effective at a distance. The reaction to the dummies is telotactic - that is, the beetles walk towards the dummy. One other object, a 10 degrees- wide black stripe, elicits menotactic orientation, in which the beetle maintains a stable course at an angle to the object.
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