biorobotic research studies how to manipulate flight of large insects with the hope to use them for situations where small maneuverability is needed, for example after a natural disaster to find survivors. Some basics of controlling flight include starting and stopping flight. Insects used in these studies are often large, like beetles or moths.
flight cessation was demonstrated by stimulating the antennal lobe in moths (manduca sexta) by Bozkurt et al 2009.
Sato et al 2008, Van Truong et al 2012, and Chung et al 2012, stopped flight in beetles by stimulating the optic lobes, central complex, or the ventral nerve cord. It was unclear to me where exactly the electrodes were placed but these studies just created an electric current between different areas, presumably disrupting many neurons.
references
- Jiang.etal2022
- Bozkurt, A., Gilmour, R. F., & Lal, A. (2009). Balloon-Assisted Flight of Radio-Controlled Insect Biobots. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 56(9), 2304–2307. https://doi.org/10.1109/TBME.2009.2022551
- Sato, H., Berry, C. W., & Maharbiz, M. M. (2008). FLIGHT CONTROL OF 10 GRAM INSECTS BY IMPLANTED NEURAL STIMULATORS. 2008 Solid-State, Actuators, and Microsystems Workshop Technical Digest, 90–91. https://doi.org/10.31438/trf.hh2008.26
- Van Truong, T., Byun, D., Lavine, L. C., Emlen, D. J., Park, H. C., & Kim, M. J. (2012). Flight behavior of the rhinoceros beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus during electrical nerve stimulation. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 7(3), 036021. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-3182/7/3/036021
- Chung, A. J., Cordovez, B., Jasuja, N., Lee, D. J., Huang, X. T., & Erickson, D. (2012). Implantable microfluidic and electronic systems for insect flight manipulation. Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, 13(2), 345–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-012-0957-z