Honey bee flights under ethanol-exposure show changes in body and wing kinematics

Flying social insects can provide model systems for inflight interactions in computationally-constrained aerial robot swarms, whose interactions may be chemically modulated under recent measurement advancements provide a capability to simultaneously make precise measurements of insect wing and body motions. This paper presents the first quantitative measurements of ethanol-exposed honey bee flight body and wing kinematic parameters. Four high speed cameras (9000 fps) were used to track the wing and body motions of insects (Apis mellifera). Digitization, consisting of data association, hull reconstruction, and segmentation, achieved the first high speed measurements of ethanol exposed honey bees wing and body motions. Kinematic changes induced by exposure to ethanol concentrations from 0% to 5% were studied using statistical analysis tools. Analysis considered trial wide mean and maximum values and gross wingstroke parameters, and tested deviations for statistical significance using Welchs t-test and Cohens d test. The results indicate a decrease in maximal heading and pitch rates of the body, and that roll rate is affected at high concentrations (5%). The wingstroke effects include a stroke frequency decrease, stroke amplitude increase, stroke inclination angle increase, and a more planar wingstroke. These effects due to ethanol exposure are valuable tools to separate from interaction effects.