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. 2022 Jan 20;8(1):e08800.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08800. eCollection 2022 Jan.

Action selection based on multiple-stimulus aspects in wind-elicited escape behavior of crickets

Nodoka Sato  1 , Hisashi Shidara  2 , Hiroto Ogawa  2
Affiliations

Action selection based on multiple-stimulus aspects in wind-elicited escape behavior of crickets

Nodoka Sato et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Escape behavior is essential for animals to avoid attacks by predators. In some species, multiple escape responses could be employed. However, it remains unknown what aspects of threat stimuli affect the choice of an escape response. We focused on two distinct escape responses (running and jumping) to short airflow in crickets and examined the effects of multiple stimulus aspects including the angle, velocity, and duration on the choice between these responses. The faster and longer the airflow, the more frequently the crickets jumped. This meant that the choice of an escape response depends on both the velocity and duration of the stimulus and suggests that the neural basis for choosing an escape response includes the integration process of multiple stimulus parameters. In addition, the moving speed and distance changed depending on the stimulus velocity and duration for running but not for jumping. Running away would be more adaptive escape behavior.

Keywords: Decision-making; Directionality; Insect; Motor performance; Oriented behavior.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effects of three stimulus parameters on the action selection of running and jumping. (A) Distribution of the response probability against the stimulus angle in the angle test. Left diagram shows the definition of the stimulus angle. Right histograms represent the ratio of the number of responses to the number of trials for a range of every 20 degrees of the stimulus angles. The air current with a velocity of 834 mm/s and a duration of 200 ms was used (n = 10 animals). (B) The selection ratio of running (blue) to jumping (red) in the angle test. The data is shown in four divisions based on the absolute value of the stimulus angle. (C) Changes in the response probability over the stimuli with different velocities. Left diagram indicates four types of stimuli used in the velocity test, in which the velocity was varied and the duration was fixed to 200 ms (n = 10 animals). (D) The selection ratio of running (blue) to jumping (red) in the velocity test. (E) Changes in the response probability over the stimuli with various durations. Left diagram indicates five types of stimuli used in the duration test, in which the duration was varied and the velocity was fixed to 834 mm/s (n = 10 animals). (F) The selection ratio of running (blue) to jumping (red) in the duration test. In (C) and (E), gray open circles connected with gray lines represent the probability for each individual and black filled circles represent the mean of the individuals' probability, for each velocity or duration of stimuli. ∗∗∗p < 0.001. N.S. not significant, coefficients for each of the stimulus parameters in logistic regression analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of stimulus angle on metric locomotor parameters. (A–C) Relationships between the stimulus angle and the movement distance (A), maximum translational velocity (B), or reaction time (C), in running (left) and jumping (right) in the angle test. The velocity and duration of the air current were fixed to 834 mm/s and 200 ms, respectively. The total number of responses used for the analysis were 106 and 76 for running and jumping, respectively. Lines indicate the regression lines with a significant slope. ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01. N.S. not significant, linear regression analysis (n = 10 animals).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of stimulus velocity on metric locomotor parameters. (A–C) The movement distance (A), maximum translational velocity (B), and reaction time (C), in running (left) and jumping (right). The total number of responses used for the analysis were 56, 101, 98 and 84 for running, and 7, 51, 81 and 100 for jumping, for 340, 618, 734 and 834 mm/s for stimulus velocities, respectively. Colored filled circles represent the data for each trial and black open circles represent the mean of the data in all trials for each velocity of stimuli. ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001. N.S. not significant, likelihood ratio test for LMMs (n = 10 animals).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effects of stimulus duration on metric locomotor parameters. (A–C) The movement distance (A), maximum translational velocity (B), and reaction time (C), in running (left) and jumping (right). The total number of responses used for the analysis were 39, 101, 88, 90 and 85 for running, and 0, 33, 87, 97 and 98 for jumping, for 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 ms of stimulus durations, respectively. Colored filled circles represent the data for each trial and black open circles represent the mean of the data in all trials for each duration of stimuli. No jumping was elicited by the stimulus of 20-ms duration. ∗∗∗p < 0.001. N.S. not significant, likelihood ratio test for LMMs (n = 10 animals).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effects of stimulus velocity on directional control. (A) Diagram showing the definition of movement direction (green) and stimulus angle (orange). According to this definition, if the movement direction coincides with the stimulus angle, the cricket will move to the opposite direction of the stimulus. (B) Relationships between the movement direction and stimulus angle in running (blue) and jumping (red), for the stimuli of various velocities, 340, 618, 734, and 834 mm/s. Colored lines represent linear regression lines with a significant slope for the data of running (blue) and jumping (red), respectively. Black dotted lines indicate the line of y=x. (C) Absolute values of the angular difference between the movement direction and stimulus angle in running (left) and jumping (right). Colored filled circles represent the data for each trial and black open circles represent the mean of the data in all trials, for each velocity of stimuli. N.S. not significant, likelihood ratio test for LMMs (n = 10 animals).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effects of stimulus duration on directional control. (A) Relationships between the movement direction and stimulus angle in running (blue) and jumping (red), for the stimuli of various durations, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 ms. No jumping was elicited by the 20 ms duration stimulus. Colored lines represent linear regression lines with a significant slope for the data of running (blue) and jumping (red), respectively. Black dotted lines indicate the line of y=x. (B) Absolute values of the angular difference between movement direction and stimulus angle in running (left) and jumping (right). Colored filled circles represent the data for each trial and black open circles represent the mean of the data in all trials, for each duration of stimuli. ∗∗p < 0.01, N.S. not significant, likelihood ratio test for LMMs (n = 10 animals).
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