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Science 9 February 2007:
Vol. 315. no. 5813, p. 733
DOI: 10.1126/science.315.5813.733j
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Some flying insects have two wings, whereas others have four. The common housefly, which possesses two wings, makes use of the vestigial hindwing (the pendulum-shaped haltere) as a source of mechanosensory input to the neural centers that support stable flight. Sane et al. (p. 863; see the Perspective by Alexander) have asked whether moths, which have four wings, possess a similar kind of flight control mechanism. Instead, the antennae appear to serve a haltere-like function by providing mechanosensory input through hairs or bristles located at their base, whose deflections are translated into afferent neural signals.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)