Megaphragma — Synthetic Sensorimotor Model

This exhibit. Megaphragma mymaripenne is among the smallest known insects. Anatomical work estimates about 7,400 cells in its adult central nervous system, including about 4,600 in the brain. This exhibit uses 7,400 model spiking units in seven functional populations; it is not a reconstructed connectome.

How it works. A simplified compound-eye model supplies target-dependent input to photoreceptors. Activity then propagates through a fixed synthetic synapse matrix from optic-lobe and central populations to descending and motor populations. Left–right motor firing rates drive a qualitative flight model, closing the sensorimotor loop without a prerecorded path.

Try it. Click the leaf to move the target, drag to orbit, and pinch or hold Ctrl or ⌘ while scrolling to zoom. The instruments show the same brain three ways: every neuron's live activity, per-population firing rate, and three membrane-voltage traces.

The rendered wings flap at approximately 12 Hz for visibility; 300 Hz is the nominal biological reference shown by the control. Neural dynamics use Izhikevich-type units, while sensing and flight are deliberately simplified educational models rather than a validated biological simulation.