Anatomical and physiological evidence for polarisation vision in the nocturnal bee Megalopta genalis
Författare
Summary, in English
The presence of a specialised dorsal rim area with an ability to detect the e-vector orientation of polarised light is shown for the first time in a nocturnal hymenopteran. The dorsal rim area of the halictid bee Megalopta genalis features a number of characteristic anatomical specialisations including an increased rhabdom diameter and a lack of primary screening pigments. Optically, these specialisations result in wide spatial receptive fields (Delta rho = 14 degrees), a common adaptation found in the dorsal rim areas of insects used to filter out interfering effects (i.e. clouds) from the sky. In this specialised eye region all nine photoreceptors contribute their microvilli to the entire length of the ommatidia. These orthogonally directed microvilli are anatomically arranged in an almost linear, anterior-posterior orientation. Intracellular recordings within the dorsal rim area show very high polarisation sensitivity and a sensitivity peak within the ultraviolet part of the spectrum.
Publiceringsår
2007
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
591-600
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Journal of Comparative Physiology A
Volym
193
Issue
6
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Springer
Ämne
- Zoology
Nyckelord
- dorsal rim area
- dim light vision
- nocturnal navigation
- insects
- polarisation sensitivity
Status
Published
Forskningsgrupp
- Lund Vision Group
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1432-1351