Locusts are usually quiescent at night, but this state can be interrupted by spontaneous periods of motor activity, or arousals, that can also be induced by exposure to light stimuli. To investigate whether repeated arousing stimulation has any lasting effect on behaviour, locusts were confronted at night with a series of 1 s light stimuli. Groups of three stimuli at intervals of 60 s were repeated 11 times at 10 min intervals during the first experimental night, and three stimuli at intervals of 90 s were repeated at 15 min intervals during the next night. Arousals and the effects of stimulation were monitored as changes in the spike activity of muscles in the basal part (the scapus) of the right antenna. In the early part of the night preceding the presentation of the light stimuli, neither 60 s nor 90 s periods were present as significant peaks in spontaneous changes in spike activity. The initial stimulus of a series evoked an arousal response that habituated on repetition of the stimulus. The end of the series of stimuli was followed by changes in spike activity that tended to have the same periodicity as the preceding stimuli. Furthermore, a single light stimulus at the end of the night evoked changes in spike activity that again tended to have the same periodicity as the preceding entraining stimuli. Repeated stimulation may therefore establish a memory trace for the period of stimulation that can be recalled either spontaneously or by the application of an appropriate external stimulus.
In the field: an interview with Harald Wolf
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In our new Conversation, Harald Wolf talks about his fieldwork experiences working with desert ants in Tunisia to understand their navigation.
Propose a new Workshop
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Our Workshops bring together leading experts and early-career researchers from a range of scientific backgrounds. Applications are now open to propose Workshops for 2024, one of which will be held in a Global South country.
Julian Dow steps down and John Terblanche joins the JEB team
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After 15 years with the journal, Julian Dow from University of Glasgow, UK, is stepping down as a Monitoring Editor. We wish Julian all the best for the future and welcome John Terblanche, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, who is joining the team. Julian talks about his long association with The Company of Biologists and the journal and John tells us about his life and career in this News article.
The capture of crude oil droplets by filter feeders at high and low Reynolds numbers
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Researchers from the University of Montreal, Canada, reveal how tiny filter feeding barnacles and Daphnia entrap and consume minute droplets of crude oil, introducing the pollutant at the bottom of the food chain.
Patterns and processes in amphibious fish
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In their Review, Keegan Lutek, Cassandra Donatelli and Emily Standen discuss the biomechanics and neural control of terrestrial locomotion in amphibious fish. They explore how locomotor mode depends on body shape, physical constraints and phylogeny.
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