A Software For Recording the Walking Speed of Insect AND OHTER Animals
| BACKGROUND |
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Monitoring the walking speed of arthropods is an important component of insect behavior studies. Walking speed and pattern is an indicator of arthropod's response to various physical and chemical stimuli. Studies on walking behavior require the observation of movement pattern, in the presence of such stimuli, either manually or through using electronic monitoring systems. Manual recording does not provide an accurate measurement of the response while electronic recording needs specialized apparatus  |
| WHAT IT CAN BE USED FOR? |
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A windows-based computer application 'Abid's Trackmove' was developed for assisting the monitoring of walking speed and pattern of arthropods' movement using a simple coordinate system. The application can be used to monitor the response of biological control agents or insect pests to chemical stimuli (attractants or repellents), comparison of laboratory-reared strains with their wild counterparts and see mobility of insect pests at various intervals after getting infected by viral or bacterial agent or any other situation where the study of walking behaviour is important. The application was basically developed for the insects and other arthropods but can be used in general zoological studies involving other animals as well.  |
| How It Works ? |
| The experimental arena is divided into a grid which is numbered according to the given co-ordinate system. After introducing the organism into the arena, the grid position of the organism is entered as grid number. It can also help to study the orientation response of an organism to a maximum of three stimli provided on the arena. During the course of movement, the software measures the distance of organism from the source stimuli and also indicates if the organism is moving towards or away from a certain stimulus. |
| OutPut |
During the course of movement, the software measures the distance of organism from the source stimuli and also indicates if the organism is moving towards or away from a certain stimulus. The output can be transferred directly to an Excel file (The computer must have Microsoft Excel installed). At the end, movement map is drawn along with the indication of stimuli position and can be saved as a graphic file.
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| Limitations |
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The limitations of the programme are that it does not record the actual turning angles as the distance is approximated to the centre of grid. Also, the observations for a single individual only can be recorded at a time. |
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