Publications:

Sondhi, Y, Messcher, R. L., Bellantuono, A. J., Storer, C. G., Cinel, S. D., Godfrey, R. K., Glass, D., St Laurent, R. D., Hamilton, C. A., Earl, C., Brislawn, C. J., Kitching, I. J., Bybee, S. M., Theobald, J. C., and Kawahara, A. Y. (2024). The developmental gene disco regulates diel-niche evolution in adult moths. Proc. R. Soc. London B, in review.

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

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., 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

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

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. English, Spanish, Portuguese

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

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

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

Tomsic, D. and Theobald, J. (2023). A neural strategy for directional behaviour. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-04494-7 

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

Theobald, J. and Palavalli-Nettimi, R. (2022) Flies evade your swatting thanks to sophisticated vision and neural shortcuts, The Conversation. English

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

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., 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

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

Palavalli-Nettimi, R. and Theobald, J. (2021). Do flies really throw up on your food when they land on it? The Conversation. English, Indonesian

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Theobald, J. C., Warrant, E. J., and O’Carroll, D. C. (2010). Wide-field motion tuning in nocturnal hawkmoths. Proc. R. Soc. London B 277, 853–860. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.1677

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

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

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

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

Kelber, A., Warrant, E. J., Pfaff, M., Wallen, R., Theobald, J. C., Wcislo, W. T., et al. (2006). Light intensity limits foraging activity in nocturnal and crepuscular bees. Behav. Ecol. 17, 63–72. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arj001

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

Hanein, Y., Lang, U., Theobald, J., Wyeth, R., Daniel, T., Willows, A. O. D., et al. (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