Anatomical and physiological evidence for polarisation vision in the nocturnal bee Megalopta genalis
Greiner, Birgit LU ; Cronin, Thomas W. ; Ribi, Willi A. ; Wcislo, William T. and Warrant, Eric LU
(2007)
In Journal of Comparative Physiology A
193(6).
p.591-600
- Abstract
- 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... (More)
- 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. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/650830
- author
- Greiner, Birgit
LU
; Cronin, Thomas W.
; Ribi, Willi A.
; Wcislo, William T.
and Warrant, Eric
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2007
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- dorsal rim area, dim light vision, nocturnal navigation, insects, polarisation sensitivity
- in
- Journal of Comparative Physiology A
- volume
- 193
- issue
- 6
- pages
- 591 - 600
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000247156300002
- scopus:34249696405
- ISSN
- 1432-1351
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00359-007-0214-1
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 256a882b-50a8-40ce-9cf9-c9a0afce4eee (old id 650830)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 15:18:32
- date last changed
- 2022-04-06 22:24:56
@article{256a882b-50a8-40ce-9cf9-c9a0afce4eee,
abstract = {{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.}},
author = {{Greiner, Birgit and Cronin, Thomas W. and Ribi, Willi A. and Wcislo, William T. and Warrant, Eric}},
issn = {{1432-1351}},
keywords = {{dorsal rim area; dim light vision; nocturnal navigation; insects; polarisation sensitivity}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{6}},
pages = {{591--600}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{Journal of Comparative Physiology A}},
title = {{Anatomical and physiological evidence for polarisation vision in the nocturnal bee Megalopta genalis}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00359-007-0214-1}},
doi = {{10.1007/s00359-007-0214-1}},
volume = {{193}},
year = {{2007}},
}