Keyboard Controls

Larvaworld’s visualization window supports interactive keyboard and mouse controls for real-time exploration.

Quick Reference

Overlay		Drawing		Color		Environment		Inspect		Simulation
State (status text)	s	Midline	m	Random colors	r	Odor aura	u	Focus / follow	f	Snapshot	i
Clock (time)	t	Contour	c	Color by behavior	b	Windscape	w	Dynamic graph (GUI)	q	Pause	space
Scale bar	n	Head	h	Black background	g	Plot odorscapes	o	Odor gains (GUI)	z	Delete item (GUI)	del
IDs	TAB	Centroid	e			Odorscape 0–9	0-9			Larva collisions	y
Camera pan	↑↓←→	Trails	p
Trail duration	+/-	Trail color mode	x
Sensors	j	Orientations	k
Segments	l

Legend:

L* = Left mouse button
R* = Right mouse button
M* = Mouse scroll wheel

Screen Controls

Key	Action	Description
s	State text	Toggle status overlay (simulation state)
t	Clock	Show/hide simulation clock
TAB	IDs	Show/hide larva IDs
n	Scale bar	Toggle scale bar
↑↓←→	Pan	Move viewport
M*	Zoom	Scroll to zoom in/out

Drawing Controls

Key	Action	Description
m	Midline	Toggle 12-point midline
c	Contour	Toggle body contour
h	Head	Highlight head segment
e	Centroid	Show body centroid
p	Trail	Toggle trajectory trails
+/-	Trail duration	Adjust trail length
x	Trail color	Cycle trail color modes
j	Sensors	Toggle sensor rendering
k	Orientations	Toggle orientation vectors
l	Segments	Toggle body segments

Color Modes

Key	Action	Description
r	Random	Random colors per larva
b	Behavior	Color by behavior state (run/pause/turn)
g	Background	Toggle black background

Environment / Landscapes

Key	Action	Description
u	Odor aura	Toggle odor aura around odor sources
w	Windscape	Toggle windscape rendering (if the environment has wind)
o	Plot odorscapes	Export odorscape plot (uses the current odor layers)
0-9	Odorscape N	Toggle visibility of odorscape layer by index (if present)

Simulation Control

Key	Action	Description
space	Pause	Pause/resume simulation
i	Snapshot	Save current frame as image
y	Collisions	Toggle larva overlap mode

Mouse & GUI Actions

Input	Action	Notes
L*	Select item	Ctrl+click toggles multi-select
M*	Zoom	Scroll wheel
R*	Context menu	Requires optional GUI dependencies (see note below)
del	Delete item	Requires optional GUI dependencies
q	Dynamic graph	Requires optional GUI dependencies
z	Odor gains	Requires optional GUI dependencies

Note

Some interactive GUI features (right-click menus, delete dialogs, dynamic graphs, odor-gain editor) depend on optional GUI dependencies (e.g. PySimpleGUI). If they are not installed, Larvaworld will print a message and skip those actions.

Usage Examples

Following a Larva

Left-click on a larva to select it
Press f to lock camera
Press m to show midline
Press p to show trail

Creating a Video

Run experiment with screen_kws={'vis_mode': 'video', 'save_video': True, 'video_file': 'my_video'}
Adjust drawing options (m, c, p)
Select color mode (r or b)
Simulation auto-exports to MP4

Inspecting Behavior

Right-click on a larva (if GUI dependencies are installed)
View detailed metrics in the popup
Press q for real-time plots (if available)