Visual Motion and its Role in the Stabilization of Gaze

Many studies on the visually guided orientation behavior of insects have revealed a wealth of fascinating mechanisms which enable these small animals to make their way with usually much less than one milligram of brain (see Chapter 11). However, only a few studies have been devoted to insect eye movements although it is clear that most insects can turn their head, and thus their eyes relative to the body. Since there is no review available on the subject, I will first briefly describe insect eyes and oculomotor systems, and then address stabilizing eye movements relative to the surroundings. I will mainly describe roll-stabilization, using the blowfly as an example (Hengstenberg, 1992), and mention common or distinctive features of other insects where advisable.