The number and arrangement of elements in the lamina cartridge of the dragonfly Sympetrum rubicundulum

Adaptations for Nocturnal Vision in Insect Apposition Eyes

Due to our own preference for bright light, we tend to forget that many insects are active in very dim light. Nocturnal insects possess in general superposition compound eyes. This eye design is truly optimized for dim light as photons can be gathered through large apertures comprised of hundreds of lenses. In apposition eyes, on the other hand, the aperture consists of a single lens resulting in a poor photon catch and unreliable vision in dim light. Apposition eyes are therefore typically found in day-active insects. Some nocturnal insects have nevertheless managed the transition to a strictly nocturnal lifestyle while retaining their highly unsuitable apposition eye design. Large lenses and wide photoreceptors enhance the sensitivity of nocturnal apposition eyes. However, as the gain of these optical adaptations is limited and not sufficient for vision in dim light, additional neural adaptations in the form of spatial and temporal summation are necessary.

Synaptic organization in the lamina of the superposition eye of a skipper butterfly, Parnara guttata

The first optic neuropil of the compound eye, the lamina, of the skipper butterfly Parnara guttata, was examined by light microscopy after Golgi-impregnation and by electron microscopy (EM) to clarify the cellular and synaptic organization. In the lamina, five different types of lamina neurons (L neurons) were characterized by using Golgi-impregnation. By EM, each cartridge was found to contain all nine receptor axons from an ommatidium, five L neurons, and a few putative centrifugal elements. Axons from photoreceptors (retinula cells) R2, R3, R4, R6, R7, and R8 terminate as short visual fibers (svfs) in the lamina cartridge. Those from R1, R5, and R9 penetrate the lamina and terminate in the medulla as long visual fibers (lvfs). In the cartridges, the synaptic contacts were formed from svfs onto L neurons, from the lvfs of R1 and/or R5 to the lvf of R9 and L neurons, and from the lvf of R9 to L neurons. The putative centrifugal fibers also make synapses to svfs and L neurons. At the most distal level of the cartridge, one of the centrifugal fibers containing dense-core vesicles makes presynaptic contacts to the putative long collaterals of the L neuron. A novel characteristic feature of this lamina is that svfs of R3 and R7 and the lvfs of R1 or R5 have long collaterals extending into neighboring cartridges. Presynaptic contacts were confirmed in such long collaterals from the svf. These results imply that receptor axons provide direct intercartridge connections as well as providing indirect connections to neighboring cartridges by way of their input upon L neurons.

The lamina monopolar cells in the optic lobe of the dragonfly sympetrum

The connectivities of five monopolar cells, M I-M V, within the ventral cartridge of the lamina of the dragonfly Sympetrum have been analysed from serial electron microscopy and their morphologies confirmed from Golgi-electron microscopy. The results of synaptic analyses are presented from a single cartridge photographed in its entirety in one series of transverse sections through the complete depth of the lamina and corroborated from shorter series of sections of additional cartridges. Each monopolar cell is defined by and identified from the location of its soma and the characteristic position of its axon in the cartridge cross section. M I and M II are two axial monopolar cells with large-calibre axons, while axons of M III-M V are slender and occupy polar positions, M III and M IV next to M I, M V next to the long visual fibres R 6 and R 7. M I and M II contribute postsynaptically at the triad synapses of all six retinular terminals, M I contributing exclusively at its dendrites, which number about 50 % more than those of M II. The distribution of M I and M II dendrites in general reflects the geometry and extent of synaptic engagement with the surrounding retinular terminals. In addition M II is postsynaptic at synapses of the long visual fibres R 6 and R 7, thus receiving a comprehensive and exclusive receptor input; it is only postsynaptic in the lamina. M I, on the other hand, forms an output back upon certain of its retinular inputs and upon M IV. M III too forms an important output upon M IV and it receives a selective retinular input from R 1 at synapses that are the focus of an unexpected asymmetry within the cartridge. M V, like M III, receives a selective retinular input (from R 7) while M IV receives its retinular input only indirectly, from both M I and M III. M IV and M V, like M II, have no output within the lamina. Finally, all monopolar cells excluding M II receive input from an unidentified cell type or types, called a, an input that for M I and M III is reciprocal. To judge from the diversity of their synaptic configurations, the numbers of their dendrites and probably the numbers of their synapses too, the monopolar cells form a sequence in ascending richness M V -M I. Definite parallels exist between, respectively, M I and M II of Sympetrum and L 2 and L 1 of Musca and Apis and between M III of Sympetrum and L 3 of Apis ,but further homologies are unclear

Evolutionary progression at synaptic connections made by identified homologous neurones

A comparative ultrastructural study of photoreceptor synapses formed upon homologous postsynaptic neurones in insects has been made by using serial-section electron microscopy in representative Diptera from a monophyletic series of 14 families. At all of the synaptic contacts there is a presynaptic dense bar, surmounted in phylogenetically more recent families by a presynaptic platform. Opposite the bar lies a pair of postsynaptic elements that invariably originate one each from two unique monopolar neurones L1 and L2. Both elements contain increasingly elaborate cisternae in more recent flies. Within the phylogenetic series, the postsynaptic ensemble itself changes from the original dyad to a tetradic configuration in more recent Muscomorpha by the addition of two new postsynaptic elements from an amacrine cell. This transition occurs once only in the series, which, gauged by the fossil record, covers divergences from the stem line extending back greater than 200 million years.

The long visual fibers of the dragonfly optic lobe: their cells of origin and lamina connections

A pair of long visual fibers projects from each ommatidium of the compound eye of the dragonfly Sympetrum. They arise from retinular cell R7 and its slender partner R6. To investigate the segregation of lamina input pathways between these and the well-described short retinular terminals, we have examined the cell morphology and en passant synaptic involvements of R7 and 6 in the ventral lamina using serial-EM and combined Golgi-EM. In the retinula, R7 has a large apical rhabdomere with microvilli aligned along the animal's horizon, and a basal axon. R6 has a few microvilli at all depths, which align with those of neighboring rhabdomeres. In the lamina, R7 and 6 neighbor on MV, the fifth monopolar cell. The stout axon of R7 has many diffusely distributed spines which contact the neighboring terminals of R5 and 8, and MII. In one entire cartridge R7 was presynaptic to MII at 24 dyads and triads throughout the lamina and also to MV at dyads exclusively in the distal lamina. Another class of element which derives from the unidentified processes called alpha was also postsynaptic to R7 at dyads, and, mostly in the proximal lamina, was reciprocally presynaptic to R7, along with R5 and 8. R6 is slender with a single conspicuous spine. At a total of three zones in the proximal lamina and distal chiasma it was presynaptic at 38 dyads--also upon MII and MV and often in combination with other elements; it was not postsynaptic in the lamina. R6 and 7 thus provide the sole input to MV and contribute to the general retinular input to MII. They form the lowest ratios of triad:dyad synapses of all lamina retinular elements. Comparison is made with the long visual fibers of other arthropods but known examples are too diverse to detect functional commonalities.