Projects / Programmes
Neurobiological and behavioural studies of sensory systems in insects
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 3.03.00 |
Medical sciences |
Neurobiology |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| B361 |
Biomedical sciences |
Physiology of invertebrates |
| B250 |
Biomedical sciences |
Entomology, plant parasitology |
insects, cockroaches, landbugs, cave-crickets, mechanoreceptors, chemoreceptors, nervous system, communication, behaviour, hybridisation, songs, pheromones, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, ecology.
Researchers (4)
Organisations (1)
| no. |
Code |
Research organisation |
City |
Registration number |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
0105 |
National Institute of Biology |
Ljubljana |
5055784 |
13,239 |
Abstract
The programme of the basic research project of the tittle “Neurobiological and behavioural studies of sensory systems in insects” is focused on investigations of communication processes in insect. The investigated species are solitary insects which play an economically (cockroaches and landbugs) or ecologically (cave crickets) important role. The project programme is divided into 4 parts which include investigations of communication signal emission, transmission and reception, signal neuronal processing in the central nervous system, synergy of different sensory systems, signal evolution in different surroundings and evaluation of signal informational value.Three years project is based on long term research orientation of the Laboratory for Neurobiology and is connected with bilateral international joint projects of scientific and technological cooperation with France (INRA, Versailles, PROTEUS), Greece (Laboratory of Animal Physiology of the Aristotle University Thessaloniki), Australia (Department of Entomology of the University of Queensland) and Germany (Lehrstuhl für Verhaltensphysiologie und Soziobiologie, University Würzburg, project proposal). Four PhD students are included into research on the project programme by the financial support of the Slovene Ministry of Science and Technology, the French Republic and Australian governement. The most important scientific achivements of research work on the project in 1998 are identification of structure and function of giant cercal interneurons processing air particle movement around cave crickets, biophysical measurements of vibratory signal transmission in plants by laser-Doppler-vibrometry, the analysis of songs of allopatric bug populations and the discovery of intraspecific asymetrical hybridisation, direct proof of vibrational directionality mediated by female songs triggered by previous contact communication and identification of male pheromones in a Slovene bug population. Asymetrical hybridisation between geographically isolated populations of the same bug species opens the posibility for application in pest control management since this sterilisation methode has no impact on environment.
