Spatial Vision and Visually Guided Behavior in Apidae

Kelber, Almut; Somanathan, Hema

doi:10.3390/insects10120418

Cited by 31 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 97 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…that the behavioural differences suggest strong differences in the spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity of the visual system, which were not expected based on the morphological similarities of the eyes of A. mellifera and A. cerana (Kelber and Somanathan, 2019;Streinzer et al, 2013). Furthermore, honey bee species might differ in their flight behaviour which in turn affects the odometer (Collett et al, 2006;Esch and Burns, 1996).…”

Section: Journal Of Experimental Biology • Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 95%

Distance estimation by Asian honey bees in two visually different landscapes

George

Thulasi

Kohl

et al. 2021

Journal of Experimental Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Honey bees estimate distances to food sources using image motion experienced on the flight path and they use this measure to tune the waggle phase duration in their dance communication. Most studies on the dance-related odometer are based on experiments with Apis mellifera foragers trained in small tunnels with black and white patterns, which allows the creation of quantifiable changes in optic flow. In this study, we determined the waggle phase duration-distance curves of two Asian honey bee species, Apisflorea and Apiscerana, in two different natural environments with clear differences in the vegetation conditions and hence visual contrast. We found that the dense vegetation condition (with higher contrast) elicited a more rapid increase in the waggle phase duration with distance than the sparse vegetation condition in A. florea but not in A. cerana. Our findings suggest that contrast sensitivity of the waggle dance odometer might vary among honey bee species.

show abstract

Section: Journal Of Experimental Biology • Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 95%

Distance estimation by Asian honey bees in two visually different landscapes

George

Thulasi

Kohl

et al. 2021

Journal of Experimental Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Most band-winged grasshoppers have non-spherical eyes featuring an elongated vertical axis that gives them a jellybean-like shape. Similar to other invertebrates with nonspherical eyes (Bagheri et al, 2020;Kelber and Somanathan, 2019) this leads to better visual acuity in the axis of elongation: in band-winged grasshoppers visual acuity in the vertical axis (VAy) is around twice as fine as that in the horizontal axis (VAx; Figure 3). VAy appears to be enhanced by a particularly flat vertical region near the center of the eye.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

A sexual dimorphism in the spatial vision of band-winged grasshoppers

Duncan

Salazar

García

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Visual acuity (VA) --- a measurement of the fineness or coarseness of vision --- correlates with the size of an animal, with larger species often possessing sharper vision. However, it is unknown whether the same relationship between visual acuity and size holds within a species when individuals differ consistently and substantially in size, such as through a sexual size dimorphism. Here we examine the visual acuity of three species of sexually dimorphic band-winged grasshoppers, in which females are the larger sex (Arphia pseudonietana, Dissosteira carolina, and Spharagemon equale; total n = 98). Using a radius of curvature estimation method, we find that females have ∼21% finer vision in the most acute region and axis of the eye than do males. Further explorations of the eyes of the species showing the greatest size dimorphism (D. carolina) suggest that this VA dimorphism is driven by females having larger eyes with more ommatidia. In contrast to many flying insects where males have finer vision to acquire mates, our study is one of the first to demonstrate a female-biased sexual dimorphism in acuity. Given the number of species in which females are larger than males, our results suggest that differences in VA between the sexes may be more common than currently appreciated.

show abstract

“…Interestingly, a recent tunnel experiment with A. cerana and A. mellifera foragers reported clear differences in the flight responses to artificial black and white patterns between the foragers of both species (Chakravarthi et al, 2018). The authors of the study concluded that the behavioral differences suggest strong differences in the spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity used for flight manoeuvres, which were not expected based on the morphological similarities of the eyes of A.mellifera and A. cerana (Kelber and Somanathan, 2019;Streinzer et al, 2013). Furthermore, honey bee species might differ in their flight responses, e.g., flight height, in different environments which can in turn affect the odometer (Collett et al, 2006).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Do honey bee species differ in the odometer used for the waggle dance?

George

Thulasi

Kohl

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Honey bees estimate distances to food sources using image motion experienced on the flight path and they use this measure to tune the waggle phase duration in their dance communication. Most studies on the relationship between experienced optic flow and the dance-related odometer are based on experiments with Apis mellifera foragers trained into a small tunnel with black and white patterns which allowed quantifiable changes in the optic flow. In this study we determined the calibration curves for foragers of the two Asian honey bee species, A. florea and A. cerana, in two different natural environments with clear differences in the vegetation conditions and hence visual contrast. We found that the dense vegetation condition (with higher contrast) elicited a more rapid increase in the waggle phase duration with distance than the sparse vegetation in A. florea but not in A. cerana. Visual contrast did not affect the perception of the food reward, measured as the number of dance circuits produced per distance, in both species. Our findings suggest that contrast sensitivity of the waggle dance odometer, or other aspects of flight behaviour, might vary among honey bee species.

show abstract

Spatial Vision and Visually Guided Behavior in Apidae

Cited by 31 publications

References 97 publications

Distance estimation by Asian honey bees in two visually different landscapes

Distance estimation by Asian honey bees in two visually different landscapes

A sexual dimorphism in the spatial vision of band-winged grasshoppers

Do honey bee species differ in the odometer used for the waggle dance?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About