Publications:

  1. Qian, R., Sondhi, Y., Currea, J. and Theobald, J. (2026). Developmental shifts in eye morphology and visual ecology of banded flower mantis (Theopropus elegans). Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. 293, 20260617. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2026.0617
  2. Theobald, J. (2026). Insect neurobiology: Early visual processing in an aerial athlete. Cur. Biol. 36, R100–R102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.12.036
  3. Qian, R., Theobald, J. C. and Frank, T. M. (2025). Praying mantises possess multiple spectral photoreceptor classes. J. Comp. Physiol. A. 212, 79–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-025-01776-z
  4. Kawahara, A. Y., Sondhi, Y. and Theobald, J. (2024). High-Speed Video of a Flying Ghost Moth, Phassus n-signatus (Hepialidae) Reveals Slight Forewing-Hindwing Out-Of-Phase Flapping. J. Lepid. Soc. 78, 266–268. https://doi.org/10.18473/lepi.78i4.a6
  5. Theobald, J. (2024). Insect vision: A steady gaze over different landscapes. Current Biology 34, R931–R933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.09.036
  6. Sondhi, Y., Messcher, R. L., Bellantuono, A. J., Storer, C. G., Cinel, S. D., Godfrey, R. K., Mongue, A. J., Weng, Y.-M., Glass, D., St Laurent, R. A., Earl, C., Brislawn, C. J., Kitching, I. J., Bybee, S. M., Theobald, J. C. and Kawahara, A. Y. (2024). Day–night gene expression reveals circadian gene disco as a candidate for diel-niche evolution in moths. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. 291, 20240591. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.0591
  7. Rodriguez-Pinto, I. I., Rieucau, G., Handegard, N. O., Boswell, K. and Theobald, J. C. (2024). Environmental impacts on visual perception modulates behavioral responses of schooling fish to looming predators. J. Exp. Biol. 227, 6. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.246665
  8. Buffry, A. D., Currea, J. P., Franke-Gerth, F. A., Palavalli-Nettimi, R., Bodey, A. J., Rau, C., Samadi, N., Gstöhl, S. J., Schlepütz, C. M., McGregor, A. P., Sumner-Rooney, L., Theobald, J. and Kittelmann, M. (2024). Evolution of compound eye morphology underlies differences in vision between closely related Drosophila species. BMC Biol. 22, 67. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-024-01864-7
  9. Fabian, S. T., Sondhi, Y., Allen, P. E., Theobald, J. C. and Lin, H.-T. (2024). Why flying insects gather at artificial light. Nat. Commun. 15, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44785-3
  10. Fabian, S., Theobald, J. and Sondhi, Y. (2024). The surprising reason why insects circle lights at night: They lose track of the sky. The Conversation. https://doi.org/10.64628/AAI.gcaqps9hc, Spanish, Portuguese
  11. Barredo, E. and Theobald, J. (2023). Insect neurobiology: What to do with conflicting evidence? Curr. Biol. 33, R1188–R1190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.060
  12. Theobald, J. (2023). Insect vision: Contrast perception under fluctuating light. Curr. Biol. 33, R710–R712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.05.023
  13. Currea, J. P., Sondhi, Y., Kawahara, A. Y. and Theobald, J. (2023). Measuring compound eye optics with microscope and microCT images. Commun. Biol. 6, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04575-x
  14. Tomsic, D. and Theobald, J. (2023). A neural strategy for directional behaviour. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-04494-7
  15. Barredo, E., Raji, J. I., Ramon, M., DeGennaro, M. and Theobald, J. (2022). Carbon dioxide and blood-feeding shift visual cue tracking during navigation in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Biol. Lett. 18. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0270
  16. Theobald, J. and Palavalli-Nettimi, R. (2022). Flies evade your swatting thanks to sophisticated vision and neural shortcuts. The Conversation. https://doi.org/10.64628/AAI.grfs3nkjm
  17. Barredo, E. and Theobald, J. (2022). Mosquito flight: Escaping attacks in dim light. Curr. Biol. 32, R279–R281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.01.078
  18. Sondhi, Y., Jo, N. J., Alpizar, B., Markee, A., Dansby, H. E., Currea, J. P., Fabian, S. T., Ruiz, C., Barredo, E., Allen, P., DeGennaro, M. and Kawahara, A. Y., Theobald, J. C. (2022). Portable locomotion activity monitor (pLAM): A cost-effective setup for robust activity tracking in small animals. Methods Ecol. Evol. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13809
  19. Currea, J. P., Frazer, R., Wasserman, S. M. and Theobald, J. (2022). Acuity and summation strategies differ in vinegar and desert fruit flies. iScience 25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.103637
  20. Palavalli-Nettimi, R. and Theobald, J. (2021). Do flies really throw up on your food when they land on it? The Conversation. https://doi.org/10.64628/AAI.cav4pusm9, Indonesian
  21. Theobald, J. (2021). Insect vision: Head saccades to reset the view. Curr. Biol. 31, R1072–R1074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.056
  22. Ruiz, C. and Theobald, J. C. (2021). Stabilizing responses to sideslip disturbances in Drosophila melanogaster are modulated by the density of moving elements on the ground. Biol. Lett., 20200748. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0748
  23. Sondhi, Y., Ellis, E. A., Bybee, S. M., Theobald, J. C. and Kawahara, A. Y. (2021). Light environment drives evolution of color vision genes in butterflies and moths. Commun. Biol. 4, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01688-z
  24. Palavalli-Nettimi, R. and Theobald, J. (2020). Insect neurobiology: How a small spot stops a fly. Curr. Biol. 30, R761–R763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.05.005
  25. Ruiz, C. and Theobald, J. C. (2020). Ventral motion parallax enhances fruit fly steering to visual sideslip. Biol. Lett. 16, 20200046. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0046
  26. Palavalli-Nettimi, R. and Theobald, J. C. (2020). Small eyes in dim light: Implications to spatio-temporal visual abilities in Drosophila melanogaster. Vision Res. 169, 33–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2020.02.007
  27. Theobald, J. (2019). Insect neurobiology: What to make of a small spot? Curr. Biol. 29, R568–R570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.05.023
  28. Palermo, N. and Theobald, J. (2019). Fruit flies increase attention to their frontal visual field during fast forward optic flow. Biol. Lett. 15, 20180767. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0767
  29. Theobald, J. (2018). Insect neurobiology: Optical illusions at the cellular level. Curr. Biol. 28, R1335–R1337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.10.023
  30. Currea, J. P., Smith, J. L. and Theobald, J. C. (2018). Small fruit flies sacrifice temporal acuity to maintain contrast sensitivity. Vision Res. 149, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2018.05.007
  31. Ruiz, C. and Theobald, J. (2018). Insect vision: Judging distance with binocular motion disparities. Curr. Biol. 28, R148–R150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.01.039
  32. Pack, C. C. and Theobald, J. C. (2018). Fruit flies are multistable geniuses. PLoS Biol. 16, e2005429. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2005429
  33. Theobald, J. (2017). Optic flow induces spatial filtering in fruit flies. Curr. Biol. 27, R212–R213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.02.018
  34. Tomsic, D. and Theobald, J. (2017). Insect neurobiology: An eye to forward motion. Curr. Biol. 27, R1156–R1158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.038
  35. Theobald, J. (2017). Insect flight: Navigating with smooth turns and quick saccades. Curr. Biol. 27, R1125–R1127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.002
  36. Smith, J. L., Palermo, N. A., Theobald, J. C. and Wells, J. D. (2016). The forensically important blow fly, Chrysomya megacephala (Diptera: Calliphoridae), is more likely to walk than fly to carrion at low light levels. Forensic Sci. Int. 266, 245–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2016.06.004
  37. Caballero, J., Mazo, C., Rodriguez-Pinto, I. and Theobald, J. C. (2015). A visual horizon affects steering responses during flight in fruit flies. J. Exp. Biol. 218, 2942–2950. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.119313
  38. Smith, J. L., Palermo, N. A., Theobald, J. C. and Wells, J. D. (2015). Body size, rather than male eye allometry, explains Chrysomya megacephala (Diptera: Calliphoridae) activity in low light. J. Insect Sci. 15, 133. https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iev114
  39. Mazo, C. and Theobald, J. C. (2014). To keep on track during flight, fruit flies discount the skyward view. Biol. Lett. 10, 20131103. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.1103
  40. Theobald, J. (2014). Insect neurobiology: How small brains perform complex tasks. Curr. Biol. 24, R528–R529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.04.015
  41. Cabrera, S. and Theobald, J. C. (2013). Flying fruit flies correct for visual sideslip depending on relative speed of forward optic flow. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 7, 76. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00076
  42. Chow, D. M., Theobald, J. C. and Frye, M. A. (2011). An olfactory circuit increases the fidelity of visual behavior. J. Neurosci. 31, 15035–15047. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1736-11.2011
  43. Theobald, J. C., Ringach, D. L. and Frye, M. A. (2010). Dynamics of optomotor responses in Drosophila to perturbations in optic flow. J. Exp. Biol. 213, 1366–1375. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.037945
  44. Theobald, J. C., Ringach, D. L. and Frye, M. A. (2010). Visual stabilization dynamics are enhanced by standing flight velocity. Biol. Lett. 6, 410–413. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2009.0845
  45. Theobald, J. C., Shoemaker, P. A., Ringach, D. L. and Frye, M. A. (2010). Theta motion processing in fruit flies. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2010.00035
  46. Theobald, J. C., Warrant, E. J. and O’Carroll, D. C. (2010). Wide-field motion tuning in nocturnal hawkmoths. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 277, 853–860. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.1677
  47. Theobald, J. C., Duistermars, B. J., Ringach, D. L. and Frye, M. A. (2008). Flies see second-order motion. Curr. Biol. 18, R464–R165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2008.03.050
  48. Theobald, J. C. and Frye, M. A. (2008). Animal behavior: Flying back to front. Curr. Biol. 18, R169–R170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.12.024
  49. Theobald, J. C., Coates, M. M., Wcislo, W. T. and Warrant, E. J. (2007). Flight performance in night-flying sweat bees suffers at low light levels. J. Exp. Biol. 210, 4034–42. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.003756
  50. Theobald, J. C., Greiner, B., Wcislo, W. T. and Warrant, E. J. (2006). Visual summation in night-flying sweat bees: A theoretical study. Vision Res. 46, 2298–2309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2006.01.002
  51. Kelber, A., Warrant, E. J., Pfaff, M., Wallen, R., Theobald, J. C., Wcislo, W. T. and others (2006). Light intensity limits foraging activity in nocturnal and crepuscular bees. Behav. Ecol. 17, 63–72. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arj001
  52. Coates, M. M., Garm, A., Theobald, J. C., Thompson, S. H. and Nilsson, D.-E. (2006). The spectral sensitivity of the lens eyes of a box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora (Conant). J. Exp. Biol. 209, 3758–3765. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.02431
  53. Hanein, Y., Lang, U., Theobald, J., Wyeth, R., Daniel, T., Willows, A. O. D., Denton, D. D. and Böhringer, K. F. (2001). Intracellular neuronal recording with high aspect ration MEMS probes. Transducers 01: Eurosensors XV, Digest of Technical Papers, Vols 1 and 2, 386–389. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59497-7_92