View in EDS

Contactless Acoustic Trapping of Hoverflies for Behavioral Studies.

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Title:	Contactless Acoustic Trapping of Hoverflies for Behavioral Studies.
Authors:	Gaillard, Thomas¹ (AUTHOR), Contreras, Victor² (AUTHOR), Martinez, Dominique¹ (AUTHOR), Viollet, Stéphane¹ (AUTHOR) stephane.viollet@cnrs.fr
Source:	Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. May2026, Vol. 1559 Issue 1, p1-11. 11p.
Subjects:	Insect behavior, Behavioral research, Syrphidae, Reflexes, Sensorimotor integration
Abstract:	Studying the sensorimotor response of flying insects is usually done in tethered conditions. The righting reflex, for example, is studied with insects that are released either from a rigid or a magnetic tether. The attached tether or magnet may, however, induce proprioceptive biases and behavioral artifacts through physical contact and additional mass or inertia. Here, we propose a contactless tether apparatus based on acoustic levitation. It relies on the emission of ultrasonic waves on both sides of the device, creating standing pressure waves—visualized using the schlieren technique—that enable insect levitation. We demonstrate its effectiveness on living hoverflies Episyrphus balteatus. By quantifying the rate of motion of four natural body markers (head, abdomen, wing, and leg) and the wingbeat response, we show that hoverfly levitation can be stable for a long period of time, with minimal behavioral perturbation under ultrasound stimulation. We further illustrate the application of ultrasound tethering to study the hoverfly righting reflex. Beyond hoverflies, ultrasound tethering was applied successfully to levitate other insect species, such as dead Drosophila and ants. More broadly, ultrasound tethering might be relevant in the context of behavioral studies with flying or walking insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Engineering Source

Description
Abstract:	Studying the sensorimotor response of flying insects is usually done in tethered conditions. The righting reflex, for example, is studied with insects that are released either from a rigid or a magnetic tether. The attached tether or magnet may, however, induce proprioceptive biases and behavioral artifacts through physical contact and additional mass or inertia. Here, we propose a contactless tether apparatus based on acoustic levitation. It relies on the emission of ultrasonic waves on both sides of the device, creating standing pressure waves—visualized using the schlieren technique—that enable insect levitation. We demonstrate its effectiveness on living hoverflies Episyrphus balteatus. By quantifying the rate of motion of four natural body markers (head, abdomen, wing, and leg) and the wingbeat response, we show that hoverfly levitation can be stable for a long period of time, with minimal behavioral perturbation under ultrasound stimulation. We further illustrate the application of ultrasound tethering to study the hoverfly righting reflex. Beyond hoverflies, ultrasound tethering was applied successfully to levitate other insect species, such as dead Drosophila and ants. More broadly, ultrasound tethering might be relevant in the context of behavioral studies with flying or walking insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	00778923
DOI:	10.1111/nyas.70281