Magnetoreception of American cockroach is sensitive to intensity of UV light
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| Year of publication | 2010 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The question whether animals' ability to perceive geomagnetic field is light-dependent or not has been addressed since the beginning of the research of magnetoreception. The role of light is essential in the problem of still enigmatic mechanism of reception. In this study, we tested the magnetoreception of American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) under two UV light intensities and under the darkness. The reaction to magnetic pulses was significant when light of high intensity was applied, it neared the limit of significance in the low light and it vanished in darkness. This study, as the first on insects, specifies the level of light intensity where the magnetoreception is functional. Unlike previous conditioning approaches sensitive to unspecific motivation impacts of changed light regime, our assay makes use of spontaneous behavioral reaction thus pointing more directly to the light-dependent reception mechanism. |
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