Flies smell the motion of odors and use it to navigate, study finds

Animals and insects depend on their ability to find the source of odors, which is a challenge when the wind blows. Animals and insects can navigate their way to these targets by smelling the odors and following the wind in a different direction.

The same reason that smoke from a chimney does not always lead back to its source is that following wind alone can lead them astray. A group of Yale scientists wondered if flies could detect the motion of odor packets independently of the wind.

Experiments were designed by the Emonet and Clark labs to test the hypothesis. Fly's can sense the direction of odor packets themselves, not just the wind.

To make this discovery, they genetically modified fly antennae to detect light and created odor packets out of light in both windless and windy environments. The flies were able to adjust their course based on the signals from odor packets alone. The paper was published in November.

The development of robots that can sense dangers in the environment and how bees find flowers will be aided by this knowledge.

The project was made possible by shared lab space in the Q Bio Institute, where Nirag Kadakia, a postdoctoral fellow in the Emonet lab, combined two separate experiments: a system to visualize how flies navigate

There is more information about the Odour motion sensor that enhances navigation. There is a DOI of 10.1038/s41586.

Journal information: Nature