Sensory capacity and behaviour of insects

Several examples of neural machinery underlying animal instinct are demonstrated. Neuro-ethology is a field of biology where the neural basis of animal behaviour is studied. The field is closely related with cybernetics: the multi-disciplinary field of engineering science for communication and control in both man-made machines and living organisms. The size of animal and sensory apparatus is an essential factor for the way of animal life. Small sized animals such as insects detect predator or prey in the dark by using filamentous hair sensitive to medium flow. A moving object nearby the animal causes medium flow, but a distant one does not. Ants and bees use the sun as a compass to orient themselves towards their nest or food place. The sun's azimuth is detected as the axis of symmetry of the skylight polarization by using the bilateral symmetry of their body plan. Nocturnal insects control their level flight without any mechanical organ for equilibrium sense. They have a horizon detector monitoring ultra...