Detection of patches of coloured discs by bees

Wertlen, Anna Maria; Niggebrügge, Claudia; Vorobyev, Misha; Ibarra, Natalie Hempel de

doi:10.1242/jeb.014571

Cited by 54 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 40 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, honeybees have finer color discrimination than bumblebees, but much poorer acuity for color detection; a target presenting only chromatic contrast must subtend a visual angle of at least 15°for honeybee detection, whereas a bumblebee can detect a similar target of ϳ3° (Giurfa et al, 1996;Dyer et al, 2008;Wertlen et al, 2008). Our measurements of bumblebee photoreceptor noise (Fig.…”

Section: Temporal and Spatial Resolution Of Color Visionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…3C) are considerably higher than honeybee (Vorobyev et al, 2001), which probably explains finer color discrimination in honeybees. The finer spatial acuity for chromatic contrast in bumblebees may partly be explained by their larger eyes and consequent superior optics (Spaethe and Chittka, 2003;Wertlen et al, 2008). However, our estimates of the noise time constant, (Eq.…”

Section: Temporal and Spatial Resolution Of Color Visionmentioning

confidence: 82%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Differences in Photoreceptor Processing Speed for Chromatic and Achromatic Vision in the Bumblebee,Bombus terrestris

Skorupski

Chittka²

2010

J. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fast detection of visual change can be mediated by visual processes that ignore chromatic aspects of the visual signal, relying on inputs from a single photoreceptor class (or pooled input from similar classes). There is an established link between photoreceptor processing speed (in achromatic vision) and visual ecology. Highly maneuverable flies, for example, have the fastest know photoreceptors, relying on metabolically expensive membrane conductances to boost performance. Less active species forgo this investment and their photoreceptors are correspondingly slower. However, within a species, additional classes of photoreceptors are required to extract chromatic information, and the question therefore arises as to whether there might be within-species differences in processing speed between photoreceptors involved in chromatic processing compared with those feeding into fast achromatic visual systems. We used intracellular recording to compare light-adapted impulse responses in three spectral classes of photoreceptor in the bumblebee. Green-sensitive photoreceptors, which are known to provide achromatic contrast for motion detection, generated the fastest impulse responses (halfwidth, ⌬t ϭ 7.9 Ϯ 1.1 ms). Blue-and UV-sensitive photoreceptors (which are involved in color vision) were significantly slower (9.8 Ϯ 1.2 and 12.3 Ϯ 1.8 ms, respectively). The faster responses of green photoreceptors are in keeping with their role in fast achromatic vision. However, blue and UV photoreceptors are still relatively fast in comparison with many other insect species, as well as vertebrate cones, suggesting a significant investment in photoreceptor processing for color vision in bees. We discuss this finding in relation to bees' requirement for accurate learning of flower color, especially in conditions of variable luminance contrast.

show abstract

Section: Temporal and Spatial Resolution Of Color Visionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Temporal and Spatial Resolution Of Color Visionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Differences in Photoreceptor Processing Speed for Chromatic and Achromatic Vision in the Bumblebee,Bombus terrestris

Skorupski

Chittka²

2010

J. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, some diurnal Lepidoptera rely more heavily on colour rather than on achromatic contrast (Kelber, 2005) even at visual angles close to that of their inter-ommatidial angle (≈1 deg) (Takeuchi et al, 2006). Interestingly, in spite of relatively comparable spectral sensitivities and eye structures, bumblebees were shown to detect colours at significantly smaller visual angles than honeybees (≈3 versus 15 deg for honeybees) (Dyer et al, 2008;Wertlen et al, 2008) but to not perform as well in colour discrimination tasks (Dyer et al, 2008). This suggests a trade-off between acuity and colour discrimination that may arise as a result of different ecological habitats in which a bee species evolved (Dyer et al, 2008;Bukovac et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual acuity trade-offs and microhabitat driven adaptation of searching behaviour in psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Aphalaridae)

Farnier

Dyer

Taylor

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There was an error published in J. Exp. Biol. 218, 1564-1571.The images in Fig. 5 were mislabelled. The correct version is given below.The authors apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. ABSTRACTInsects have evolved morphological and physiological adaptations in response to selection pressures inherent to their ecology. Consequently, visual performance and acuity often significantly vary between different insect species. Whilst psychophysics has allowed for the accurate determination of visual acuity for some Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera, very little is known about other insect taxa that cannot be trained to positively respond to a given stimulus. In this study, we demonstrate that prior knowledge of insect colour preferences can be used to facilitate acuity testing. We focused on four psyllid species (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Aphalaridae), namely Ctenarytaina eucalypti, Ctenarytaina bipartita, Anoeconeossa bundoorensis and Glycaspis brimblecombei, that differ in their colour preferences and utilization of different host-plant modules (e.g. apical buds, stems, leaf lamellae) and tested their visual acuity in a modified Y-maze adapted to suit psyllid searching behaviour. Our study revealed that psyllids have visual acuity ranging from 6.3 to 8.7 deg. Morphological measurements for different species showed a close match between inter-ommatidial angles and behaviourally determined visual angles (between 5.5 and 6.6 deg) suggesting detection of colour stimuli at the single ommatidium level. Whilst our data support isometric scaling of psyllids' eyes for C. eucalypti, C. bipartita and G. brimblecombei, a morphological trade-off between light sensitivity and spatial resolution was found in A. bundoorensis. Overall, species whose microhabitat preferences require more movement between modules appear to possess superior visual acuity. The psyllid searching behaviours that we describe with the help of tracking software depict species-specific strategies that presumably evolved to optimize searching for food and oviposition sites.

show abstract

“…Seen from the centre of the box the larger cue covered about 20 in elevation and 30 in azimuth. This should be large enough to be detectable as the visual resolution of the bee's compound eye has been behaviourally estimated to be in the range of 2e5 (Giurfa, Vorobyev, Kevan, & Menzel, 1996;Macuda, Gegear, Laverty, & Timney, 2001;Spaethe & Chittka, 2003;Srinivasan & Lehrer, 1988;Wertlen, Niggebrügge, Vorobyev, & Hempel de Ibarra, 2008). The black ceiling, used in the honeybee experiments, provided an even larger directional cue.…”

Section: Extrabox Cues Override Local Pictorial Cuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out of the box: how bees orient in an ambiguous environment

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Keywords: bees features geometry homing learning orientation snapshot matching space perception view-based navigation vision How do bees employ multiple visual cues for homing? They could either combine the available cues using a view-based computational mechanism or pick one cue. We tested these strategies by training honeybees, Apis mellifera carnica, and bumblebees, Bombus terrestris, to locate food in one of the four corners of a box-shaped flight arena, providing multiple and also ambiguous cues. In tests, bees confused the diagonally opposite corners, which looked the same from the inside of the box owing to its rectangular shape and because these corners carried the same local colour cues. These 'rotational errors' indicate that the bees did not use compass information inferred from the geomagnetic field under our experimental conditions. When we then swapped cues between corners, bees preferred corners that had local cues similar to the trained corner, even when the geometric relations were incorrect. Apparently, they relied on views, a finding that we corroborated by computer simulations in which we assumed that bees try to match a memorized view of the goal location with the current view when they return to the box. However, when extra visual cues outside the box were provided, bees were able to resolve the ambiguity and locate the correct corner. We show that this performance cannot be explained by view matching from inside the box. Indeed, the bees adapted their behaviour and actively acquired information by leaving the arena and flying towards the cues outside the box. From there they re-entered the arena at the correct corner, now ignoring local cues that previously dominated their choices. All individuals of both species came up with this new behavioural strategy for solving the problem provided by the local ambiguity within the box. Thus both species seemed to be solving the ambiguous task by using their route memory, which is always available during their natural foraging behaviour. Ó

show abstract

Detection of patches of coloured discs by bees

Cited by 54 publications

References 40 publications

Differences in Photoreceptor Processing Speed for Chromatic and Achromatic Vision in the Bumblebee,Bombus terrestris

Differences in Photoreceptor Processing Speed for Chromatic and Achromatic Vision in the Bumblebee,Bombus terrestris

Visual acuity trade-offs and microhabitat driven adaptation of searching behaviour in psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Aphalaridae)

Out of the box: how bees orient in an ambiguous environment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About