Benefits
A selection of established and novel techniques for instrumental recording of insect behavior will be presented and demonstrated. The tutorial discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the various techniques, their limitations and practical considerations. The main focus is on recording equipment and data collection rather than on data analysis.

Features
After a short introduction into the methodology and an overview of the various techniques the following methods will be introduced and demonstrated:

• Activity recording using light beams
• Devices using sound and vibration for activity recording
• Activity recording mediated by Doppler radar
• Motion detection using video image processing
• 300 mm Locomotion compensator and tracking software
• 100 mm Micro locomotion compensator

Audience
The methods demonstrated may help researchers to select the most appropriate technique for insect (and other small animal) behavior recording. Special attention will be paid to practical aspects and instrumental requirements.

Presentation
The tutorial will be presented in workshop style rather than as a presentation. Interaction with the audience is anticipated and appreciated.

Instructor resume
Dr. Jan N.C. van der Pers has been active in insect chemoreception research since 1976, working with electrophysiological, morphological, chemical and behavioral techniques. He developed novel methods and devices for electrophysiological recording from insect olfactory and taste receptor neurons as well as instruments for recording behavioral responses. In 1971 he founded Syntech, which specializes in the design and production of dedicated instrumentation for the study of insect chemoreception and associated research fields.

Sign up
To sign up for this tutorial, please send an email to Jan van der Pers. Feel free to ask questions in advance, thus allowing the instructor to tailor the content of the tutorial to the interest of the participants.