spectral sensitivity
- Two chiral types of randomly rotated ommatidia are distributed across the retina of the flathead oak borer Coraebus undatus (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)
Highlighted Article: Jewel beetles have an irregular retinal mosaic of randomly rotated and mirror-symmetric ommatidia, housing at least four spectral classes of photoreceptors.
- Spectral organization of the compound eye of a migrating nymphalid, the chestnut tiger butterfly Parantica sita
Summary: Eyes of chestnut tiger butterflies have UV-, blue- and green-sensitive cells and they are also polarization sensitive, which may be useful for visual orientation during migration.
- Photoresponses in the radiolar eyes of the fan worm Acromegalomma vesiculosum
Summary: Light responses from the unusual eyes on fan worm feeding tentacles reveal a high temporal resolution, broad dynamic range, and spectral tuning to blue-green light, making the eyes well suited for governing a startle response.
- Vision in the snapping shrimp Alpheus heterochaelis
Summary: Morphological, physiological and behavioral approaches demonstrate for the first time that the eyes of snapping shrimp provide spatial vision.
- Light avoidance by a non-ocular photosensing system in the terrestrial slug Limax valentianus
Highlighted Article: Terrestrial slugs of the genus Limax exhibit negative phototaxis behaviour even if their eyes are removed, possibly by using their brain as a photosensor, which expresses several opsin mRNA species.
- Differences in ocular media transmittance in classical frog and toad model species and its impact on visual sensitivity
Summary: The transmittance properties of the ocular media affect sensitivity to visual stimuli. Among frogs, the lenses of ranids are less transmissive than those of bufonids, decreasing sensitivity to ultraviolet light.
- Electrical interactions between photoreceptors in the compound eye of Periplaneta americana
Summary: In the compound eye of the American cockroach, complex electrical interactions take place between green- and UV-sensitive photoreceptors in each ommatidium.
- Non-linear amplification of graded voltage signals in the first-order visual interneurons of the butterfly Papilio xuthus
Summary: LMCs in the visual system of Papilio xuthus use two information-coding strategies: a graded coding and a mixed coding involving action-potential like spikes. Use of spikes depends on light level.
- Extreme polarisation sensitivity in the retina of the corn borer moth Ostrinia
Summary: Polarisation vision in the moths is not confined to the dorsal rim area; the retina of Crambid, Noctuid and Saturniid moths and some dung beetles contains distal photoreceptors with extremely high polarisation sensitivity.
- Retinal specialization through spatially varying cell densities and opsin coexpression in cichlid fish
Summary: Cichlid retinas show spatial variation with an area centralis that has higher photoreceptor and ganglion cell density and less opsin coexpression. Visual modeling suggests this may reflect a trade-off between colour discrimination and contrast detection.