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Flow-field variables trigger landing in flies

Abstract

The eyes of moving animals experience a continuously changing flow of stimulation. Information contained in this ‘optical flow field’ can be extracted to control movement1–4. I present here evidence that pre-landing deceleration in flies is determined by such information: onset of deceleration is triggered when the ratio of the image expansion of a target on the retina to the image size (‘relative retinal expansion velocity’, RREV) reaches a critical value.

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Wagner, H. Flow-field variables trigger landing in flies. Nature 297, 147–148 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/297147a0

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