Drosophila navigational behavior in temporally-varying thermal environments

Navigating dynamic environments is essential for an organism’s survival, necessitating investigation into how animals make navigational decisions using sensory stimuli. Drosophila larvae are excellent models for thermotactic navigation – they exhibit robust thermoregulatory behavior in response to even small temperature changes. Here, we quantitatively analyze larval navigational decisions in temporally-varying thermal environments. As larvae navigate a flat surface, we stimulate them with sinusoidal temperature functions within a wide range of offset levels to elicit distinct warming and cooling behaviors. Modulating the rate of direction-altering turns is the larva’s primary means of navigation during crawling, though we also analyze other locomotory and strategic behavioral components central to decision-making. Our results will further elucidate navigation through a thermally dynamic environment and serve as tests for predictive models of thermoregulatory behavior. Our broader goal is to explore the translation of complex sensory information into predictable behavioral outputs in living organisms.