Figure 2

Positions and lateral accelerations observed in male moths during location of the source of a laboratory pheromone plume. Data are from 19 moths, with four digitized trajectories per moth. (Top) Average lateral acceleration of moths as a function of binned position, indicated with a color map (blue: −150 cm/s ², red: 150 cm/s ²). Bins with no data are plotted with value zero (green). (Bottom left) x-averaged probability density functions (pdfs) of lateral (y-direction) position relative to the plume source (blue line), and of excursion endpoints (black line). (Bottom right) x-averaged lateral acceleration plotted as a function of binned lateral position (blue line). Also shown are medians (solid red lines) and 25th and 75th percentiles (dashed red lines) of binned data. Note that moths’ lateral acceleration towards the plume centerline typically begins before they exit the time-averaged plume, suggesting that the decision to turn has already been made or anticipated.