3D Flight Path Tracking of Butterflies by Image Processing

The first results of an interdisciplinary cooperation of the UoAS Würzburg-Schweinfurt, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and the University of Würzburg, Biozentrum, are introduced in the paper. The principal goal is to identify the abilities, motivation, and decision rules underlying the movement of small butterflies (Polyommatus Icarus, Common Blue) and to develop a ‘cognitive’ movement model. The described part of the UoAS Würzburg-Schweinfurt is the record of movements by installing high resolution video cameras in a large outdoor flight cage, as well as developing software for 3D path tracking