M 1     The 3-D free flight trajectory of an individual female Drosophila melanogaster exploring an arena 1 meter in diameter. Animation is replayed in real time.

M 2     A fly's-eye-view of the panorama during free flight in an arena lined with vertical and horizontal stripes. Clockwise from lower left: top view of the flight trajectory, Cartesian projection of the retinal image filtered through a mathematical model of photoreceptor physiology, photoreceptor image filtered through a mathematical model for motion detection and local image expansion detection by a 2-D array of Elementary Motion Detectors, magnitude of image motion as encoded by EMDs, direction and magnitude (vector field) of image motion encoded by EMDs.

M 3     Top-rear view (with zoom inserts) of a "virtual reality" flight simulator. By modulating the motion of each wing, the fly tethered at the center of the arena is able to control the motion of the visual stimulus displayed on an array of LEDs. The frequency of the audio signal is proportional to wingbeat frequency. The image switches from a single vertical stripe to a translating pattern with poles of expansion and contraction centered laterally. Contains an audio track.

M 4     Rear view of a modified flight simulator. A stream of saturated vapor is delivered to the fly's antennae, and drawn away from behind with a gentle suction. A computerized valve and tubing system switches from water vapor to dilute vinegar vapor (a strong olfactory attractant for flies). The audio frequency is proportional to wingbeat frequency. Contains an audio track.

M 5     A high-throughput walking optomotor simulator. LED panels are assembled into a 3-sided hallway containing a clear tube of several hundred intact fruit flies. An infrared video camera tracks the spatial distribution of the whole population through time.

M 6     A "loose" tether suspended in a magnetic field enables a fly to rotate freely in the yaw plane. This movie shows both side-views and bottom-up views of the fly. Different visual stimuli evoke rapid body saccades or smooth object tracking responses.

M 7     The influence of visual feedback on odor tracking. The fly was exposed to a narrow and continuous plume of apple cider vinegar (video montage of the arena and the fly are not to scale). At frame 750 the visual scene switches from high-contrast stripes to uniform grayscale of equal mean luminance.  This video is an online supplement to Frye and Duistermars (2008) Curr Biol 18:270-275.

M 8     An animated comparison of first-order and second-order motion stimuli.  This video is an online supplement to Theobald et al. (2008) Curr Biol 18(11):r464

M 9     Just so that you don't think we take ourselves too seriously - we glue flies to sticks for a living after all... this video was produced by Mr. Duistermars. Contains an audio track.

M 10     We had a lab visitor from the University of Arizona trying to squeeze a hawkmoth into one of our fly arenas. This is the result. Contains an audio track.

M 11     Courtesy of MHD.