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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 26, 2025

Visually Mediated Odor Tracking During Flight in Drosophila

Visually Mediated Odor Tracking During Flight in Drosophila

Published on: January 26, 2009

Reduced olfactory acuity in recently flightless insects suggests rapid regressive evolution.

Stefanie Neupert¹, Graham A McCulloch¹, Brodie J Foster¹

¹Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand.

BMC Ecology and Evolution

|April 17, 2022

Summary

Flightless stoneflies show reduced smelling abilities, suggesting that rapid olfaction is an adaptation for flight. This study highlights the energetic costs associated with enhanced olfactory receptor neuron responses.

Keywords:

Electroantennogram Energetic cost Evolutionary lability Flight Olfactory acuity Plecoptera Regressive evolution Selective pressure Temporal resolution ‘Use it or lose it’

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Area of Science:

Insect olfaction
Sensory adaptation
Evolutionary biology

Background:

Insects possess rapid olfactory capabilities, potentially linked to flight.
Stoneflies offer a model to study flight-related adaptations due to wing polymorphism.

Purpose of the Study:

To test the hypothesis that fast smelling is an adaptation for flight.
To compare olfactory acuity between flighted and flightless stonefly lineages.

Main Methods:

Analyzing olfactory receptor neuron responses in sympatric flighted and flightless stonefly ecotypes.
Comparing olfactory acuity in genetically similar populations to control for confounding factors.

Main Results:

Recently evolved flightless stonefly lineages exhibit reduced olfactory acuity.
Independent wing reduction in different lineages correlates with parallel evolution of decreased olfactory acuity.
Observed reductions in olfactory response strength and speed.

Conclusions:

Flight imposes selective pressure on the speed and strength of olfactory receptor neuron responses.
Reduced olfactory acuity in flightless lineages parallels rapid wing reduction.
This study underscores the energetic costs of rapid olfaction and provides evidence for sensory adaptation driven by locomotion.