Orientation mechanisms in still air

Terms such as anemotaxis and klinotaxis, while seemingly defining a reaction precisely, tend to promote the notion of single-solution orientation systems. Yet insects may well process the available information necessary for several mechanisms, selecting the anemotactic reaction, for example, only when there are sufficient anemo and visual cues and flight directly upwind provides continued contact with the chemical stimulus. Such terms also tend to camouflage the importance of non-chemical and idothetic inputs. 

Future studies should define the role that internally-stored information on position (particularly as defined by visual cues) plays in maintenance of a course setting and gauging the congruence of heading and wind direction. It is doubtful that the range of orientation mechanisms used by flying insects in attraction to chemicals will be understood fully until the visual and wind cues and, most especially, the structure of the pheromone plume present in natural environments are adequately defined and duplicated experimentally. 

The critical reviews of Drs W. J. Bell, J. S. Elkinton, J. S. Kennedy and T. R. Tobin are greatly appreciated. This research was supported by grants from the USDA and NSF Grant PMC 79-12014. 

and Card6, R. T. (1979) Analysis of pheromone-mediated behaviors in male Grapholitha molesta, the Oriental fruit moth (Lepidoptera Tortricidae). Env, Ent., 8, 956-68. 

and Roelofs, W. L. (1981) Initiation and termination of Oriental fruit moth male response to pheromone concentrations in the field. Env, Ent., 10, 211-8. 

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