Bumblebee visual allometry results in locally improved resolution and globally improved sensitivity
Abstract
The quality of visual information that is available to an animal is limited by the size of its eyes. Differences in eye size can be observed even between closely related individuals, yet we understand little about how this affects vision. Insects are good models for exploring the effects of size on visual systems because many insect species exhibit size polymorphism. Previous work has been limited by difficulties in determining the 3D structure of eyes. We have developed a novel method based on x-ray microtomography to measure the 3D structure of insect eyes and to calculate predictions of their visual capabilities. We used our method to investigate visual allometry in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris and found that size affects specific aspects of vision, including binocular overlap, optical sensitivity, and dorsofrontal visual resolution. This reveals that differential scaling between eye areas provides flexibility that improves the visual capabilities of larger bumblebees.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Feb 26, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.7554/elife.40613
Entities
People
- Andrew J. Bodey
- Christoph Rau
- Emily Baird
- Gavin J. Taylor
- Marie D Schmidt
- Pierre Tichit
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Carl Trygger Foundation
- Diamond Light Source
- Lund University
- Royal Physiographic Society in Lund
- Stockholm University
- Swedish Research Council