title: Strength of forelimb lateralization predicts motor errors in an insect.
abstract: Lateralized behaviours are widespread in both vertebrates and invertebrates, suggesting that lateralization is advantageous. Yet evidence demonstrating proximate or ultimate advantages remains scarce, particularly in invertebrates or in species with individual-level lateralization. Desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) are biased in the forelimb they use to perform targeted reaching across a gap. The forelimb and strength of this bias differed among individuals, indicative of individual-level lateralization. Here we show that strongly biased locusts perform better during gap-crossing, making fewer errors with their preferred forelimb. The number of targeting errors locusts make negatively correlates with the strength of forelimb lateralization. This provides evidence that stronger lateralization confers an advantage in terms of improved motor control in an invertebrate with individual-level lateralization.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK.
authors.forename: Adrian T A
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK j.e.niven@sussex.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jeremy E
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7786-5254
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Niven
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005121:Extremities / Q000502:physiology; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006110:Grasshoppers / Q000502:physiology*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology
keywords: handedness; limb control; locust; motor control; reaching