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Hu X, Cheng F, Gong Z, Qin K, Shan T, Li W, Zhang L, Yan W, Zeng Z, Wang Z. Knockout of a single Pax6 gene (toy but not ey) leads to compound eye deficiency and small head in honeybees. Commun Biol 2024; 7:1319. [PMID: 39402171 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-07016-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2024] [Indexed: 10/17/2024] Open
Abstract
The compound eyes are crucial to honeybees, playing pivotal roles in color recognition, orientation, localization, and navigation processes. The development of compound eyes is primarily mastered by an evolutionarily conserved transcription factor Pax6. In honeybees, there are two Pax6 homologs: ey and toy. To gain a deeper understanding of their functions, we knock out both homologs using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Intriguingly, we observe that toy knockout mutants have smaller heads without compound eyes and exhibit brain atrophy, while ey knockout mutants develop normal compound eyes, most of which die before/during their metamorphosis from pupa to adult. By comparing the head transcriptomes of four stages (larva, prepupa, pupa, and adult) in toy-knockout mutants versus normal controls, we identify significantly perturbed genes related to DNA binding transcription factors, neuron differentiation, and insect visual primordium development. Additionally, we find the interaction network of toy in honeybees differs obviously from that of D. melanogaster. Our findings suggest the two Pax6 genes serve distinct functions in honeybees and toy takes over the central function of ey in master-regulating the development of honeybee compound eyes. This adds new evidence for breaking the simplified view that some of conservative developmental toolkit genes function as all-or-nothing master regulators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaofen Hu
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Fuping Cheng
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Zhixian Gong
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Kaixin Qin
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Tingting Shan
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Wenwen Li
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Lizhen Zhang
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Weiyu Yan
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China
| | - Zhijiang Zeng
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China.
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China.
| | - Zilong Wang
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China.
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China.
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2
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Mota T, Paffhausen B, Menzel R. Chromatic processing and receptive-field structure in neurons of the anterior optic tract of the honeybee brain. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0310282. [PMID: 39264932 PMCID: PMC11392409 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2024] [Accepted: 08/28/2024] [Indexed: 09/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Color vision in honeybees is a well-documented perceptual phenomenon including multiple behavioral tests of trichromaticity and color opponency. Data on the combined color/space properties of high order visual neurons in the bee brain is however limited. Here we fill this gap by analyzing the activity of neurons in the anterior optic tract (AOT), a high order brain region suggested to be involved in chromatic processing. The spectral response properties of 72 units were measured using UV, blue and green light stimuli presented in 266 positions of the visual field. The majority of these units comprise combined chromatic-spatial processing properties. We found eight different neuron categories in terms of their spectral, spatial and temporal response properties. Color-opponent neurons, the most abundant neural category in the AOT, present large receptive fields and activity patterns that were typically opponent between UV and blue or green, particularly during the on-tonic response phase. Receptive field shapes and activity patterns of these color processing neurons are more similar between blue and green, than between UV and blue or green. We also identified intricate spatial antagonism and double spectral opponency in some receptive fields of color-opponent units. Stimulation protocols with different color combinations applied to 21 AOT units allowed us to uncover additional levels of spectral antagonism and hidden inhibitory inputs, even in some units that were initially classified as broad-band neurons based in their responses to single spectral lights. The results are discussed in the context of floral color discrimination and celestial spectral gradients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theo Mota
- Institute of Biology, Neurobiology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Benjamin Paffhausen
- Institute of Biology, Neurobiology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Randolf Menzel
- Institute of Biology, Neurobiology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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3
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Somanathan H. Why diversity matters for understanding the visual ecology and behaviour of bees. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2024; 64:101224. [PMID: 38925459 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 05/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
Two bee species, the European honeybee and the buff-tailed bumblebee, are well-developed models of visual behaviour and ecology. How representative of bees across phylogeny and geography are these two species? Bee sensory systems likely differ between temperate and tropical species due to differences in the intensity or the types of selection pressures. Differences in temperate and tropical floral diversity, abundance and seasonality can influence sensory adaptations and behaviours. Niche partitioning in the speciose tropics along the microhabitat and temporal axes is increasingly reported to involve special visual adaptations in bees. Inclusive approaches encompassing other bee species and building on lessons from the 'model' bees will inform how ecology shapes bee senses, and, in turn, the structure of plant-bee mutualisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hema Somanathan
- School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
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4
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Fernandes KE, Frost EA, Kratz M, Carter DA. Pollen products collected from honey bee hives experiencing minor stress have altered fungal communities and reduced antimicrobial properties. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2024; 100:fiae091. [PMID: 38886123 PMCID: PMC11210501 DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiae091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2024] [Revised: 06/06/2024] [Accepted: 06/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Fungi are increasingly recognized to play diverse roles within honey bee hives, acting as pathogens, mutualists, and commensals. Pollen products, essential for hive nutrition, host significant fungal communities with potential protective and nutritional benefits. In this study, we profile the fungal communities and antifungal properties of three pollen products from healthy and stressed hives: fresh pollen collected by forager bees from local plants; stored pollen packed into the comb inside the hive; and bee bread, which is stored pollen following anaerobic fermentation used for bee and larval nutrition. Using amplicon sequencing, we found significant differences in fungal community composition, with hive health and sample type accounting for 8.8% and 19.3% of variation in beta diversity, respectively. Pollen and bee bread extracts had species-specific antimicrobial activity and inhibited the fungal hive pathogens Ascosphaera apis, Aspergillus flavus, and Aspergillus fumigatus, and the bacterial hive pathogen Paenibacillus larvae. Activity was positively correlated with phenolic and antioxidant content and was diminished in stressed hives. The plant source of pollen determined by amplicon sequencing differed in stressed hives, suggesting altered foraging behaviour. These findings illustrate the complex interplay between honey bees, fungal communities, and hive products, which should be considered in hive management and conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenya E Fernandes
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Elizabeth A Frost
- ABGU, A Joint Venture of NSW Department of Primary Industries and University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia
- NSW Department of Primary Industries, Paterson, NSW 2421, Australia
| | - Madlen Kratz
- NSW Department of Primary Industries, Paterson, NSW 2421, Australia
| | - Dee A Carter
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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5
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White TE. Deceptive pollinator lures benefit from physical and perceptual proximity to flowers. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11120. [PMID: 38450320 PMCID: PMC10917580 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2023] [Revised: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Predators often use deception to exploit sensory and cognitive biases in prey. In pollinating insects, these include preferences for conspicuous colours associated with flowers, which predators such as orb-web spiders display as prey lures. Theory predicts that deceptive signal efficacy should covary with both their perceptual similarity and physical proximity to the resources-here, flowers-whose cues they are imitating. Here I used the colour-polymorphic jewelled spider Gasteracantha fornicata to test this prediction. I first examined spiders' capture success in the field, and found their visual resemblance and physical proximity to flowers interacted to mediate capture rates, with colour-similarity becoming increasingly important as the distance between spiders and flowers decreased. I then replicated this interaction experimentally. Spiders adjacent to colour-matched flowers enjoyed heightened capture success relative to those with nearby but colour-mismatched flowers. While spiders with flowers placed at a distance (irrespective of colour) recorded the fewest captures. These results support 'neighbourhood' effects in aggressive deception as receivers' vulnerability to exploitation is mediated by the local signalling community. More generally, they emphasise the importance of the broader information landscape in the ecology of communication, and suggest misinformation is most effective when physically and perceptually proximate to the truth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas E. White
- School of Life and Environmental SciencesThe University of SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
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6
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Hansel C. Contiguity in perception: origins in cellular associative computations. Trends Neurosci 2024; 47:170-180. [PMID: 38310022 PMCID: PMC10939850 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2024.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Revised: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/05/2024]
Abstract
Our brains are good at detecting and learning associative structures; according to some linguistic theories, this capacity even constitutes a prerequisite for the development of syntax and compositionality in language and verbalized thought. I will argue that the search for associative motifs in input patterns is an evolutionary old brain function that enables contiguity in sensory perception and orientation in time and space. It has its origins in an elementary material property of cells that is particularly evident at chemical synapses: input-assigned calcium influx that activates calcium sensor proteins involved in memory storage. This machinery for the detection and learning of associative motifs generates knowledge about input relationships and integrates this knowledge into existing networks through updates in connectivity patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Hansel
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
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7
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Symington HA, Glover BJ. Strawberry varieties differ in pollinator-relevant floral traits. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e10914. [PMID: 38322008 PMCID: PMC10844710 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/08/2024] Open
Abstract
A rising global population will need more food, increasing demand for insect pollination services. However, general insect declines conflict with this demand. One way to mitigate this conflict is to grow crop flowers that are easier for insects to find and more rewarding to those that visit them. This study quantifies variation in the pollinator-relevant traits of nectar and pollen production, flower size and flower shape in commercial strawberry, finding significant variation between varieties in all traits. Bumblebees could learn to distinguish between the extremes of variation in flower shape, but this learning is very slow, indicating that this variation is at the limit of that which can be detected by bumblebees. Bee preferences for nectar of differing sugar concentrations at field-realistic volumes were consistent with previous observations at larger volumes, suggesting that it is valid to translate lab findings to the field. This study builds on our knowledge of the range of pollinator reward present in a single cultivated species and of the impact of field-realistic levels of variation in floral traits on bumblebee preferences.
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8
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Vijayan S, Balamurali GS, Johnson J, Kelber A, Warrant EJ, Somanathan H. Dim-light colour vision in the facultatively nocturnal Asian giant honeybee, Apis dorsata. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231267. [PMID: 37554033 PMCID: PMC10410228 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023] Open
Abstract
We discovered nocturnal colour vision in the Asian giant honeybee Apis dorsata-a facultatively nocturnal species-at mesopic light intensities, down to half-moon light levels (approx. 10-2 cd m-2). The visual threshold of nocturnality aligns with their reported nocturnal activity down to the same light levels. Nocturnal colour vision in A. dorsata is interesting because, despite being primarily diurnal, its colour vision capabilities extend into dim light, while the 'model' European honeybee Apis mellifera is reported to be colour-blind at twilight. By employing behavioural experiments with naturally nesting A. dorsata colonies, we show discrimination of the trained colour from other stimuli during the day, and significantly, even at night. Nocturnal colour vision in bees has so far only been reported in the obligately nocturnal carpenter bee Xylocopa tranquebarica. The discovery of colour vision in these two bee species, despite differences in the extent of their nocturnality and the limitations of their apposition compound eye optics, opens avenues for future studies on visual adaptations for dim-light colour vision, their role in pollination of flowers at night, and the effect of light pollution on nocturnal activity in A. dorsata, a ubiquitous pollinator in natural, agricultural and urban habitats in the Asian tropics and sub-tropics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sajesh Vijayan
- School of Biology, IISER-TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
| | - G. S. Balamurali
- School of Biology, IISER-TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, University of Lund, Sölvegatan 35, Lund 22362, Sweden
| | - Jewel Johnson
- School of Biology, IISER-TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
| | - Almut Kelber
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, University of Lund, Sölvegatan 35, Lund 22362, Sweden
| | - Eric J. Warrant
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, University of Lund, Sölvegatan 35, Lund 22362, Sweden
| | - Hema Somanathan
- School of Biology, IISER-TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
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9
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van der Kooi CJ, Reuvers L, Spaethe J. Honesty, reliability, and information content of floral signals. iScience 2023; 26:107093. [PMID: 37426347 PMCID: PMC10329176 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Plants advertise their presence by displaying attractive flowers, which pollinators use to locate a floral reward. Understanding how floral traits scale with reward status lies at the heart of pollination biology, because it connects the different interests of plants and pollinators. Studies on plant phenotype-reward associations often use different terms and concepts, which limits developing a broader synthesis. Here, we present a framework with definitions of the key aspects of plant phenotype-reward associations and provide measures to quantify them across different species and studies. We first distinguish between cues and signals, which are often used interchangeably, but have different meanings and are subject to different selective pressures. We then define honesty, reliability, and information content of floral cues/signals and provide ways to quantify them. Finally, we discuss the ecological and evolutionary factors that determine flower phenotype-reward associations, how context-dependent and temporally variable they are, and highlight promising research directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Casper J. van der Kooi
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
- Department of Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Lora Reuvers
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Johannes Spaethe
- Department of Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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10
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Collett TS, Hempel de Ibarra N. An 'instinct for learning': the learning flights and walks of bees, wasps and ants from the 1850s to now. J Exp Biol 2023; 226:jeb245278. [PMID: 37015045 PMCID: PMC10112973 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.245278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/06/2023]
Abstract
The learning flights and walks of bees, wasps and ants are precisely coordinated movements that enable insects to memorise the visual surroundings of their nest or other significant places such as foraging sites. These movements occur on the first few occasions that an insect leaves its nest. They are of special interest because their discovery in the middle of the 19th century provided perhaps the first evidence that insects can learn and are not solely governed by instinct. Here, we recount the history of research on learning flights from their discovery to the present day. The first studies were conducted by skilled naturalists and then, over the following 50 years, by neuroethologists examining the insects' learning behaviour in the context of experiments on insect navigation and its underlying neural mechanisms. The most important property of these movements is that insects repeatedly fixate their nest and look in other favoured directions, either in a preferred compass direction, such as North, or towards preferred objects close to the nest. Nest facing is accomplished through path integration. Memories of views along a favoured direction can later guide an insect's return to its nest. In some ant species, the favoured direction is adjusted to future foraging needs. These memories can then guide both the outward and homeward legs of a foraging trip. Current studies of central areas of the insect brain indicate what regions implement the behavioural manoeuvres underlying learning flights and the resulting visual memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas S. Collett
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QG, UK
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11
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Lo YC, Blamires SJ, Liao CP, Tso IM. Nocturnal and diurnal predator and prey interactions with crab spider color polymorphs. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-023-03291-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
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12
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McCulloch KJ, Macias-Muñoz A, Briscoe AD. Insect opsins and evo-devo: what have we learned in 25 years? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210288. [PMID: 36058243 PMCID: PMC9441233 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 01/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The visual pigments known as opsins are the primary molecular basis for colour vision in animals. Insects are among the most diverse of animal groups and their visual systems reflect a variety of life histories. The study of insect opsins in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has led to major advances in the fields of neuroscience, development and evolution. In the last 25 years, research in D. melanogaster has improved our understanding of opsin genotype-phenotype relationships while comparative work in other insects has expanded our understanding of the evolution of insect eyes via gene duplication, coexpression and homologue switching. Even so, until recently, technology and sampling have limited our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms that evolution uses to shape the diversity of insect eyes. With the advent of genome editing and in vitro expression assays, the study of insect opsins is poised to reveal new frontiers in evolutionary biology, visual neuroscience, and animal behaviour. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding colour vision: molecular, physiological, neuronal and behavioural studies in arthropods'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyle J. McCulloch
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Aide Macias-Muñoz
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Adriana D. Briscoe
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 321 Steinhaus Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
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13
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Christenson MP, Mousavi SN, Oriol E, Heath SL, Behnia R. Exploiting colour space geometry for visual stimulus design across animals. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210280. [PMID: 36058250 PMCID: PMC9441238 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2021] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Colour vision represents a vital aspect of perception that ultimately enables a wide variety of species to thrive in the natural world. However, unified methods for constructing chromatic visual stimuli in a laboratory setting are lacking. Here, we present stimulus design methods and an accompanying programming package to efficiently probe the colour space of any species in which the photoreceptor spectral sensitivities are known. Our hardware-agnostic approach incorporates photoreceptor models within the framework of the principle of univariance. This enables experimenters to identify the most effective way to combine multiple light sources to create desired distributions of light, and thus easily construct relevant stimuli for mapping the colour space of an organism. We include methodology to handle uncertainty of photoreceptor spectral sensitivity as well as to optimally reconstruct hyperspectral images given recent hardware advances. Our methods support broad applications in colour vision science and provide a framework for uniform stimulus designs across experimental systems. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding colour vision: molecular, physiological, neuronal and behavioural studies in arthropods'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias P. Christenson
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - S. Navid Mousavi
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Elie Oriol
- Laboratoire de Physique de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL University, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Sarah L. Heath
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Rudy Behnia
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
- Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
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14
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Yilmaz A, El Jundi B, Belušič G, Byrne M, Baird E, Dacke M. Mechanisms of spectral orientation in a diurnal dung beetle. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210287. [PMID: 36058237 PMCID: PMC9441229 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Ball rolling dung beetles use a wide range of cues to steer themselves along a fixed bearing, including the spectral gradient of scattered skylight that spans the sky. Here, we define the spectral sensitivity of the diurnal dung beetle Kheper lamarcki and use the information to explore the orientation performance under a range of spectral light combinations. We find that, when presented with spectrally diverse stimuli, the beetles primarily orient to the apparent brightness differences as perceived by their green photoreceptors. Under certain wavelength combinations, they also rely on spectral information to guide their movements, but the brightness and spectral directional information is never fully disentangled. Overall, our results suggest the use of a dichromatic, primitive colour vision system for the extraction of directional information from the celestial spectral gradient to support straight-line orientation. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding colour vision: molecular, physiological, neuronal and behavioural studies in arthropods'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayse Yilmaz
- Department of Biology, Lund Vision Group, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
| | - Basil El Jundi
- Department of Biology, Animal Physiology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Gregor Belušič
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Marcus Byrne
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits 2050, South Africa
| | - Emily Baird
- Department of Zoology, Division of Functional Morphology, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Marie Dacke
- Department of Biology, Lund Vision Group, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
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15
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Yilmaz A, Hempel de Ibarra N, Kelber A. High diversity of arthropod colour vision: from genes to ecology. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210273. [PMID: 36058249 PMCID: PMC9441235 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Colour vision allows animals to use the information contained in the spectrum of light to control important behavioural decisions such as selection of habitats, food or mates. Among arthropods, the largest animal phylum, we find completely colour-blind species as well as species with up to 40 different opsin genes or more than 10 spectral types of photoreceptors, we find a large diversity of optical methods shaping spectral sensitivity, we find eyes with different colour vision systems looking into the dorsal and ventral hemisphere, and species in which males and females see the world in different colours. The behavioural use of colour vision shows an equally astonishing diversity. Only the neural mechanisms underlying this sensory ability seems surprisingly conserved-not only within the phylum, but even between arthropods and the other well-studied phylum, chordates. The papers in this special issue allow a glimpse into the colourful world of arthropod colour vision, and besides giving an overview this introduction highlights how much more research is needed to fill in the many missing pieces of this large puzzle. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding colour vision: molecular, physiological, neuronal and behavioural studies in arthropods'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayse Yilmaz
- Department of Biology - Functional Zoology, Lund University, Lund 22362, Sweden
| | | | - Almut Kelber
- Department of Biology - Functional Zoology, Lund University, Lund 22362, Sweden
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16
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Werner A. Understanding insect colour constancy. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210286. [PMID: 36058239 PMCID: PMC9441236 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Colour constancy is the ability to recognize the colour of objects despite spectral changes in the natural illumination. As such, this phenomenon is important for most organisms with good colour vision, and it has been intensively studied in humans and primates. Colour constancy is also documented for several species of insects, which is not surprising given the ecological importance of colour vision. But how do insects, with their small brains, solve the complex problem of colour vision and colour constancy? In an interspecies approach, this review reports on behavioural studies on colour constancy in bees, butterflies, moths and humans, corresponding computational models and possible neurophysiological correlates. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding colour vision: molecular, physiological, neuronal and behavioural studies in arthropods'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annette Werner
- Evolutionary Cognition - Cognitive Science, Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
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17
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Abstract
Ants are ecologically one of the most important groups of insects and exhibit impressive capabilities for visual learning and orientation. Studies on numerous ant species demonstrate that ants can learn to discriminate between different colours irrespective of light intensity and modify their behaviour accordingly. However, the findings across species are variable and inconsistent, suggesting that our understanding of colour vision in ants and what roles ecological and phylogenetic factors play is at an early stage. This review provides a brief synopsis of the critical findings of the past century of research by compiling studies that address molecular, physiological and behavioural aspects of ant colour vision. With this, we aim to improve our understanding of colour vision and to gain deeper insights into the mysterious and colourful world of ants. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Understanding colour vision: molecular, physiological, neuronal and behavioural studies in arthropods’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayse Yilmaz
- Department of Biology, Lund Vision Group, University of Lund, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
| | - Johannes Spaethe
- Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Sanderring 2, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
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18
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Hempel de Ibarra N, Holtze S, Bäucker C, Sprau P, Vorobyev M. The role of colour patterns for the recognition of flowers by bees. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210284. [PMID: 36058248 PMCID: PMC9441241 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Bees discriminate between many different colours of flower petals, but it is not well understood how they perceive and learn patterns frequently found in flowers with colourful structures. We used multi-spectral imaging to explore chromatic cues in concentric flower patterns as they are seen through the low-resolution eyes of the honeybee. We find a diversity of colour combinations, which suggests that plants might exploit the sensory capabilities of pollinators, like bees, that learn colours easily. A consistent feature is that the surround of the pattern has a stronger chromatic contrast to the foliage background than the centre. This can potentially facilitate the fast identification of floral objects within colourful scenes when a foraging bee moves through a flower patch. In behavioural experiments we trained and tested bees with three types of concentric patterns. They recognized and discriminated patterns accurately in most tests, relying flexibly on both chromatic and spatial cues. Only rarely, depending on the training stimulus, chromatic cues determined their choices whilst pattern cues were ignored. The variability of floral designs and the bees' flexibility in recalling colour and spatial information suggest a role for colour vision in pattern processing. Implications for the signalling strategies of flowers are discussed. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding colour vision: molecular, physiological, neuronal and behavioural studies in arthropods'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Hempel de Ibarra
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Department of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
- Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Susanne Holtze
- Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Cornelia Bäucker
- Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Philipp Sprau
- Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Misha Vorobyev
- Department of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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19
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Fioratti CAG, Falcão EA, da Silva RM, do Carmo Vieira M, Caires ARL, Mussury RM. Application of Optical Fluorescence Spectroscopy for Studying Bee Abundance in Tropaeolum majus L. (Tropaeolaceae). BIOLOGY 2022; 11:887. [PMID: 35741408 PMCID: PMC9219692 DOI: 10.3390/biology11060887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Revised: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Tropaeolum majus L. species produce flowers with all sorts of colors, from yellow to red. This work aimed to apply optical fluorescence spectroscopy to study bee abundance in T. majus, answering the following questions: (1) do corolla temperature and weather conditions affect the abundance of visiting bee species? (2) do flower color and corolla fluorescence affect the abundance of visiting bee species? (3) do red flowers attract more visiting bees? (4) is there a relationship between bee visits and flower compounds? The bee species Apis mellifera, Paratrigona lineata, and Trigona spinipes were the most observed in T. majus flowers. The latter was more active in the morning and preferred orange and yellow flowers. These colors also had higher temperatures and fluorescence emissions than did the red ones and those with yellow-red and orange-red nectar guides. Orange flowers emitted a broadband UV spectrum (between 475 and 800 nm). This range might be due to compounds such as hydroxycinnamic acid, flavonols, isoflavonoids, flavones, phenolic acid, and chlorophyll. Extracts from different T. majus corolla colors showed that flowers emit specific fluorescent signals, mainly related to bee color vision and learning, thus acting as a means of communication between bees and flowers. In this way, this information evidences the interaction between bees and T. majus flowers, allowing conservation actions for pollinators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudemir Antonio Garcia Fioratti
- Laboratory of Insect-Plant Interaction, Graduate Program in Entomology and Biodiversity Conservation, College of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Federal University of Grande Dourados, Dourados-Itahum Highway, 12th km, Dourados 79804-970, MS, Brazil; (C.A.G.F.); (R.M.d.S.)
| | - Evaristo Alexandre Falcão
- Applied Optics Group, College of Exact Sciences and Technology, Federal University of Grande Dourados, Dourados-Itahum Highway, 12th km, Dourados 79804-970, MS, Brazil;
| | - Rosicleia Matias da Silva
- Laboratory of Insect-Plant Interaction, Graduate Program in Entomology and Biodiversity Conservation, College of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Federal University of Grande Dourados, Dourados-Itahum Highway, 12th km, Dourados 79804-970, MS, Brazil; (C.A.G.F.); (R.M.d.S.)
| | - Maria do Carmo Vieira
- Laboratory of Medicinal Plants, College of Agricultural Sciences, Federal University of Grande Dourados, Dourados-Itahum Highway, 12th km, Dourados 79804-970, MS, Brazil;
| | - Anderson Rodrigues Lima Caires
- Optics and Photonics Group, Institute of Physics, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande 79070-900, MS, Brazil;
| | - Rosilda Mara Mussury
- Laboratory of Insect-Plant Interaction, Graduate Program in Entomology and Biodiversity Conservation, College of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Federal University of Grande Dourados, Dourados-Itahum Highway, 12th km, Dourados 79804-970, MS, Brazil; (C.A.G.F.); (R.M.d.S.)
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20
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Yu L, Xu X, Zhang Z, Painting CJ, Yang X, Li D. Masquerading predators deceive prey by aggressively mimicking bird droppings in a crab spider. Curr Zool 2022; 68:325-334. [PMID: 35592341 PMCID: PMC9113284 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoab060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
In aggressive mimicry, a predator accesses prey by mimicking the appearance and/or behavior of a harmless or beneficial model in order to avoid being correctly identified by its prey. The crab spider genus Phrynarachne is often cited as a textbook example of masquerading as bird droppings (BDs) in order to avoid predation. However, Phrynarachne spiders may also aggressively mimic BDs in order to deceive potential prey. To date, there is no experimental evidence to support aggressive mimicry in masquerading crab spiders; therefore, we performed a field survey, a manipulative field experiment, and visual modeling to test this hypothesis using Phrynarachne ceylonica. We compared prey-attraction rates among BDs, spiders, and control empty leaves in the field. We found that although all prey combined and agromyzid dipterans, in particular, were attracted to BDs at a higher rate than to spiders, other dipterans and hymenopterans were attracted to BDs at a similar rate as to spiders. Both spiders and BDs attracted insects at a significantly higher rate than did control leaves. As predicted, prey was attracted to experimentally blackened or whitened spiders significantly less frequently than to unmanipulated spiders. Finally, visual modeling suggested that spiders and BDs can be detected by dipterans and hymenopterans against background leaves, but they are indistinguishable from each other. Taken together, our results suggest that insects lured by spiders may misidentify them as BDs, and bird-dropping masquerading may serve as aggressive mimicry in addition to predator avoidance in P. ceylonica.
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Affiliation(s)
- Long Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering of China & Centre for Behavioural Ecology & Evolution, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, Hubei, China
| | - Xin Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering of China & Centre for Behavioural Ecology & Evolution, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, Hubei, China
- College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410006, Hunan, China
| | - Zengtao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering of China & Centre for Behavioural Ecology & Evolution, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, Hubei, China
| | | | - Xiaodong Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan 666303, China
| | - Daiqin Li
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, 117543, Singapore
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21
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Gonzales D, Hempel de Ibarra N, Anderson K. Remote Sensing of Floral Resources for Pollinators – New Horizons From Satellites to Drones. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.869751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Insect pollinators are affected by the spatio-temporal distribution of floral resources, which are dynamic across time and space, and also influenced heavily by anthropogenic activities. There is a need for spatial data describing the time-varying spatial distribution of flowers, which can be used within behavioral and ecological studies. However, this information is challenging to obtain. Traditional field techniques for mapping flowers are often laborious and limited to relatively small areas, making it difficult to assess how floral resources are perceived by pollinators to guide their behaviors. Conversely, remote sensing of plant traits is a relatively mature technique now, and such technologies have delivered valuable data for identifying and measuring non-floral dynamics in plant systems, particularly leaves, stems and woody biomass in a wide range of ecosystems from local to global scales. However, monitoring the spatial and temporal dynamics of plant floral resources has been notably scarce in remote sensing studies. Recently, lightweight drone technology has been adopted by the ecological community, offering a capability for flexible deployment in the field, and delivery of centimetric resolution data, providing a clear opportunity for capturing fine-grained information on floral resources at key times of the flowering season. In this review, we answer three key questions of relevance to pollination science – can remote sensing deliver information on (a) how isolated are floral resources? (b) What resources are available within a flower patch? And (c) how do floral patches change over time? We explain how such information has potential to deepen ecological understanding of the distribution of floral resources that feed pollinators and the parameters that determine their navigational and foraging choices based on the sensory information they extract at different spatial scales. We provide examples of how such data can be used to generate new insights into pollinator behaviors in distinct landscape types and their resilience to environmental change.
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22
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Green NF, Guevara E, Osorio DC, Endler JA, Marshall NJ, Vorobyev M, Cheney KL. Color discrimination thresholds vary throughout color space in a reef fish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus). J Exp Biol 2022; 225:274644. [PMID: 35258087 PMCID: PMC9080749 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Animal use color vision in a range of behaviours. Visual performance is limited by thresholds, which are set by noise in photoreceptors and subsequent neural processing. The receptor noise limited (RNL) model of color discrimination is widely used for modelling color vision and accounts well for experimental data from many species. In one of the most comprehensive tests yet of color discrimination in a non-human species, we using Ishihara-style stimulus patterns to examine thresholds for 21 directions at five locations in color space for the fish Rhineacanthus aculeatus. Thresholds matched RNL model predictions most closely for stimuli near to the the achromatic point, but exceeded predictions (indicating a decline in sensitivity) with distance from this point. Thresholds were also usually higher for saturation than for hue differences. These changes in color threshold with color space location and direction may give insight into photoreceptor non-linearities and post-receptoral mechanisms of color vision in fish. Our results highlight the need for a cautious interpretation of the RNL model - especially for modelling colours that differ from one another in saturation (rather than hue), and especially for highly saturated colours distant from the achromatic point in colour space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naomi F Green
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia.,Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Emily Guevara
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Daniel C Osorio
- School of Life Sciences, The University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QG, UK
| | - John A Endler
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Victoria, 3216, Australia
| | - N Justin Marshall
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Misha Vorobyev
- Department of Optometry and Vision Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
| | - Karen L Cheney
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia.,Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
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23
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van der Kooi CJ, Kelber A. Achromatic Cues Are Important for Flower Visibility to Hawkmoths and Other Insects. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.819436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Studies on animal colour vision typically focus on the chromatic aspect of colour, which is related to the spectral distribution, and disregard the achromatic aspect, which is related to the intensity (“brightness”) of a stimulus. Although the chromatic component of vision is often most reliable for object recognition because it is fairly context independent, the achromatic component may provide a reliable signal under specific conditions, for example at night when light intensity is low. Here we make a case for the importance of achromatic cues in plant-pollinator signalling, based on experimental data on naïve Deilephila elpenor and Macroglossum stellatarum hawkmoths, optical modelling and synthesising published experiments on bees, flies, butterflies and moths. Our experiments show that in ecologically relevant light levels hawkmoths express a strong preference for brighter stimuli. Published experiments suggest that for flower-visiting bees, butterflies, moths and flies, achromatic cues may be more important for object detection than often considered. Our optical modelling enabled disentangling the contribution of pigments and scattering structures to the flower’s achromatic contrast, and illustrates how flower anatomy and background are important mediating factors. We discuss our findings in the context of the often-assumed dichotomy between detection and discrimination, chromatic versus achromatic vision, and the evolution of floral visual signals.
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24
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Muñoz-Galicia D, Castillo-Guevara C, Lara C. Innate and learnt color preferences in the common green-eyed white butterfly ( Leptophobia aripa): experimental evidence. PeerJ 2021; 9:e12567. [PMID: 34909282 PMCID: PMC8638565 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Learning abilities help animals modify their behaviors based on experience and innate sensory biases to confront environmental unpredictability. In a food acquisition context, the ability to detect, learn, and switch is fundamental in a wide range of insect species facing the ever-changing availability of their floral rewards. Here, we used an experimental approach to address the innate color preferences and learning abilities of the common green-eyed white butterfly (Leptophobia aripa). Methods In Experiment 1, we conducted innate preference choice-tests to determine whether butterflies had a strong innate color preference and to evaluate whether color preferences differed depending on the array of colors offered. We faced naïve butterflies to artificial flowers of four colors (quadruple choice-test): yellow, pink, white, and red; their choices were assessed. In Experiment 2, we examined the ability of this butterfly species to associate colors with rewards while exploring if the spectral reflectance value of a flower color can slow or accelerate this behavioral response. Butterflies were first trained to be fed from artificial yellow flowers inserted in a feeder. These were later replaced by artificial flowers with a similar (blue) or very different (white) spectral reflectance range. Each preference test comprised a dual-choice test (yellow vs blue, yellow vs white). Results Butterflies showed an innate strong preference for red flowers. Both the number of visits and the time spent probing these flowers were much greater than the pink, white, and yellow color flowers. Butterflies learn to associate colors with sugar rewards. They then learned the newly rewarded colors as quickly and proficiently as if the previously rewarded color was similar in spectral reflectance value; the opposite occurs if the newly rewarded color is very different than the previously rewarded color. Conclusions Our findings suggest that common green-eyed white butterflies have good learning abilities. These capabilities may allow them to respond rapidly to different color stimulus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deysi Muñoz-Galicia
- Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, San Felipe, Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala, Mexico
| | - Citlalli Castillo-Guevara
- Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, San Felipe, Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala, Mexico
| | - Carlos Lara
- Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, San Felipe, Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala, Mexico
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25
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Kind E, Longden KD, Nern A, Zhao A, Sancer G, Flynn MA, Laughland CW, Gezahegn B, Ludwig HDF, Thomson AG, Obrusnik T, Alarcón PG, Dionne H, Bock DD, Rubin GM, Reiser MB, Wernet MF. Synaptic targets of photoreceptors specialized to detect color and skylight polarization in Drosophila. eLife 2021; 10:e71858. [PMID: 34913436 PMCID: PMC8789284 DOI: 10.7554/elife.71858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Color and polarization provide complementary information about the world and are detected by specialized photoreceptors. However, the downstream neural circuits that process these distinct modalities are incompletely understood in any animal. Using electron microscopy, we have systematically reconstructed the synaptic targets of the photoreceptors specialized to detect color and skylight polarization in Drosophila, and we have used light microscopy to confirm many of our findings. We identified known and novel downstream targets that are selective for different wavelengths or polarized light, and followed their projections to other areas in the optic lobes and the central brain. Our results revealed many synapses along the photoreceptor axons between brain regions, new pathways in the optic lobes, and spatially segregated projections to central brain regions. Strikingly, photoreceptors in the polarization-sensitive dorsal rim area target fewer cell types, and lack strong connections to the lobula, a neuropil involved in color processing. Our reconstruction identifies shared wiring and modality-specific specializations for color and polarization vision, and provides a comprehensive view of the first steps of the pathways processing color and polarized light inputs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emil Kind
- Instititut für Biologie – Abteilung Neurobiologie, Fachbereich Biologie, Chemie & Pharmazie, Freie Universität BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Kit D Longden
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Aljoscha Nern
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Arthur Zhao
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Gizem Sancer
- Instititut für Biologie – Abteilung Neurobiologie, Fachbereich Biologie, Chemie & Pharmazie, Freie Universität BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Miriam A Flynn
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Connor W Laughland
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Bruck Gezahegn
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Henrique DF Ludwig
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Alex G Thomson
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Tessa Obrusnik
- Instititut für Biologie – Abteilung Neurobiologie, Fachbereich Biologie, Chemie & Pharmazie, Freie Universität BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Paula G Alarcón
- Instititut für Biologie – Abteilung Neurobiologie, Fachbereich Biologie, Chemie & Pharmazie, Freie Universität BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Heather Dionne
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Davi D Bock
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Gerald M Rubin
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Michael B Reiser
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Mathias F Wernet
- Instititut für Biologie – Abteilung Neurobiologie, Fachbereich Biologie, Chemie & Pharmazie, Freie Universität BerlinBerlinGermany
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26
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Langridge KV, Wilke C, Riabinina O, Vorobyev M, Hempel de Ibarra N. Approach Direction Prior to Landing Explains Patterns of Colour Learning in Bees. Front Physiol 2021; 12:697886. [PMID: 34955870 PMCID: PMC8692860 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.697886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Gaze direction is closely coupled with body movement in insects and other animals. If movement patterns interfere with the acquisition of visual information, insects can actively adjust them to seek relevant cues. Alternatively, where multiple visual cues are available, an insect's movements may influence how it perceives a scene. We show that the way a foraging bumblebee approaches a floral pattern could determine what it learns about the pattern. When trained to vertical bicoloured patterns, bumblebees consistently approached from below centre in order to land in the centre of the target where the reward was located. In subsequent tests, the bees preferred the colour of the lower half of the pattern that they predominantly faced during the approach and landing sequence. A predicted change of learning outcomes occurred when the contrast line was moved up or down off-centre: learned preferences again reflected relative frontal exposure to each colour during the approach, independent of the overall ratio of colours. This mechanism may underpin learning strategies in both simple and complex visual discriminations, highlighting that morphology and action patterns determines how animals solve sensory learning tasks. The deterministic effect of movement on visual learning may have substantially influenced the evolution of floral signals, particularly where plants depend on fine-scaled movements of pollinators on flowers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keri V. Langridge
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Claudia Wilke
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Olena Riabinina
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Misha Vorobyev
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Natalie Hempel de Ibarra
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
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27
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Jezeera MA, Tichit P, Balamurali GS, Baird E, Kelber A, Somanathan H. Spatial resolution and sensitivity of the eyes of the stingless bee, Tetragonula iridipennis. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2021; 208:225-238. [PMID: 34738166 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-021-01521-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2021] [Revised: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Stingless bees are important pollinators in the tropics. The tremendous variation in body size makes them an excellent group to study how miniaturization affects vision and visual behaviours. Using direct measurements and micro-CT, we reconstructed the eye structure, estimated anatomical spatial resolution and optical sensitivity of the stingless bee Tetragonula iridipennis. T. iridipennis is similar in size to the Australian stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria and is smaller than honeybees. It has correspondingly small eyes (area = 0.56 mm2), few ommatidia (2451 ± 127), large inter-facet (3.0 ± 0.6°) and acceptance angles (2.8°). Theoretical estimates suggest that T. iridipennis has poorer spatial resolution (0.17 cycles degree-1) than honeybees, bumblebees, and T. carbonaria. Its optical sensitivity (0.08 µm2 sr), though higher than expected, is within the range of diurnal bees. This may provide them with greater contrast sensitivity, which is likely more relevant than the absolute sensitivity in this diurnal bee. Behaviourally determined detection thresholds for single targets using y-maze experiments were 11.5° for targets that provide chromatic contrast alone and 9.1° for targets providing chromatic and achromatic contrast. Further studies into microhabitat preferences and behaviour are required to understand how miniaturization influences its visual ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Asmi Jezeera
- IISER TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
| | - Pierre Tichit
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.,Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - G S Balamurali
- IISER TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
| | - Emily Baird
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Almut Kelber
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Hema Somanathan
- IISER TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
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28
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Garcia JE, Dyer AG, Burd M, Shrestha M. Flower colour and size signals differ depending on geographical location and altitude region. PLANT BIOLOGY (STUTTGART, GERMANY) 2021; 23:905-914. [PMID: 34546624 DOI: 10.1111/plb.13326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Bees are major pollinators of angiosperms and have phylogenetically conserved colour vision but differ in how various key species use achromatic information that is vital for both flower detection and size processing. We modelled green contrast and colour contrast signals from flowers of different countries where there are well established differences in availability of model bee species along altitudinal gradients. We tested for consistency in visual signals as expected from generalization in pollination principles using phylogenetically informed linear models. Patterns of chromatic contrast, achromatic green contrast and flower size differed among the three floras we examined. In Nepal there is a significant positive correlation between flower size and colour contrast in the subalpine region, but a negative correlation at the lower altitudes. At high elevations in Norway, where pollinators other than bees are common, flower size was positively correlated with colour contrast. At low and medium altitudes in Norway and in Australia, we did not observe a significant relationship between size and colour contrast. We thus find that the relationship between size, green and colour contrast cannot be generalized across communities, thus suggesting that flower visual signal adaptations to local pollinators are not limited to chromatic contrast.
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Affiliation(s)
- J E Garcia
- Bio-Inspired Digital Sensing (BIDs Lab), School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - A G Dyer
- Bio-Inspired Digital Sensing (BIDs Lab), School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - M Burd
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - M Shrestha
- Bio-Inspired Digital Sensing (BIDs Lab), School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Disturbance Ecology, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
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29
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Finnell LM, Koski MH. A test of Sensory Drive in plant-pollinator interactions: heterogeneity in the signalling environment shapes pollinator preference for a floral visual signal. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2021; 232:1436-1448. [PMID: 34287921 DOI: 10.1111/nph.17631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Sensory Drive predicts that habitat-dependent signal transmission and perception explain the diversification of communication signals. Whether Sensory Drive shapes floral evolution remains untested in nature. Pollinators of Argentina anserina prefer small ultraviolet (UV)-absorbing floral guides at low elevation but larger guides at high. However, mechanisms underlying differential preference are unclear. High elevation populations experience elevated UV irradiance and frequently flower against bare substrates rather than foliage, potentially impacting signal transmission and perception. At high and low elevation extremes, we experimentally tested the effects of UV light (ambient vs reduced) and floral backgrounds (foliage vs bare) on pollinator choice for UV guide size. We examined how different signalling environments shaped pollinator-perceived flower colour using visual system models. At high elevation, pollinators preferred locally common large UV guides under ambient UV, but lacked preference under reduced UV. Flies preferred large guides only against bare substrate, the common high elevation background. Ambient UV amplified contrast of large UV guides with floral backgrounds, and flowers contrasted more with bare ground than foliage. Results support that local signalling conditions contribute to pollinator preference for a floral visual signal, a key tenet of Sensory Drive. Components of Sensory Drive could shape floral signal evolution in other plants spanning heterogeneous signalling environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsay M Finnell
- Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA
| | - Matthew H Koski
- Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA
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30
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Powner MB, Priestley G, Hogg C, Jeffery G. Improved mitochondrial function corrects immunodeficiency and impaired respiration in neonicotinoid exposed bumblebees. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0256581. [PMID: 34437613 PMCID: PMC8389381 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Neonicotinoid pesticides undermine pollinating insects including bumblebees. However, we have previously shown that mitochondrial damage induced by neonicotinoids can be corrected by 670nm light exposure. But we do not know if this protection extends to immunity or what the minimum effective level of 670nm light exposure is necessary for protection. We use whole body bee respiration in vivo as a metric of neonicotinoid damage and assess the amount of light exposure needed to correct it. We reveal that only 1 min of 670nm exposure is sufficient to correct respiratory deficits induced by pesticide and that this also completely repairs damaged immunocompetence measured by haemocyte counts and the antibacterial action of hemolymph. Further, this single 1 min exposure remains effective for 3–6 days. Longer exposures were not more effective. Such data are key for development of protective light strategies that can be delivered by relatively small economic devices placed in hives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Barry Powner
- Centre for Applied Vision Research, City University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Chris Hogg
- Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Glen Jeffery
- Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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31
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Toh YP, Dion E, Monteiro A. Dissections of Larval, Pupal and Adult Butterfly Brains for Immunostaining and Molecular Analysis. Methods Protoc 2021; 4:53. [PMID: 34449688 PMCID: PMC8395752 DOI: 10.3390/mps4030053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Butterflies possess impressive cognitive abilities, and investigations into the neural mechanisms underlying these abilities are increasingly being conducted. Exploring butterfly neurobiology may require the isolation of larval, pupal, and/or adult brains for further molecular and histological experiments. This procedure has been largely described in the fruit fly, but a detailed description of butterfly brain dissections is still lacking. Here, we provide a detailed written and video protocol for the removal of Bicyclus anynana adult, pupal, and larval brains. This species is gradually becoming a popular model because it uses a large set of sensory modalities, displays plastic and hormonally controlled courtship behaviour, and learns visual mate preference and olfactory preferences that can be passed on to its offspring. The extracted brain can be used for downstream analyses, such as immunostaining, DNA or RNA extraction, and the procedure can be easily adapted to other lepidopteran species and life stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Peng Toh
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; (Y.P.T.); (A.M.)
| | - Emilie Dion
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; (Y.P.T.); (A.M.)
| | - Antónia Monteiro
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; (Y.P.T.); (A.M.)
- Yale-NUS College, 10 College Avenue West, Singapore 138609, Singapore
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32
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Vision: Space and colour meet in the fly optic lobes. Curr Biol 2021; 31:R909-R912. [PMID: 34314720 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Colour vision involves colour-opponent cells, which are excited and inhibited by different wavelengths. Synaptic interconnections between Drosophila Dm8 cells are required for forming spatio-chromatic receptive fields with a center and surround of opposing polarity which can invert, depending on the stimulus.
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33
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Meena A, Kumar AMV, Balamurali GS, Somanathan H. Visual detection thresholds in the Asian honeybee, Apis cerana. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2021; 207:553-560. [PMID: 34152429 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-021-01496-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2020] [Revised: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
To understand how insect pollinators find flowers against complex backgrounds in diverse natural habitats, it is required to accurately estimate the thresholds for target detection. Detection thresholds for single targets vary between bee species and have been estimated in the Western honeybee, a species of bumblebee and in a stingless bee species. We estimated the angular range of detection for coloured targets in the Asian honeybee Apis cerana. Using a Y-maze experimental set up, we show that targets that provided both chromatic and green receptor contrast were detected at a minimum visual angle of 7.7°, while targets with only chromatic contrast were detected at a minimum angle of 13.2°. Our results thus provide a robust foundation for future studies on the visual ecology of bees in a comparative interspecific framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhishek Meena
- School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, 140306, India
| | - Arya M V Kumar
- IISER TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, 695551, India
| | - G S Balamurali
- IISER TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, 695551, India.
| | - Hema Somanathan
- IISER TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, 695551, India
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34
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Bertrand OJN, Doussot C, Siesenop T, Ravi S, Egelhaaf M. Visual and movement memories steer foraging bumblebees along habitual routes. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:269087. [PMID: 34115117 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.237867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
One persistent question in animal navigation is how animals follow habitual routes between their home and a food source. Our current understanding of insect navigation suggests an interplay between visual memories, collision avoidance and path integration, the continuous integration of distance and direction travelled. However, these behavioural modules have to be continuously updated with instantaneous visual information. In order to alleviate this need, the insect could learn and replicate habitual movements ('movement memories') around objects (e.g. a bent trajectory around an object) to reach its destination. We investigated whether bumblebees, Bombus terrestris, learn and use movement memories en route to their home. Using a novel experimental paradigm, we habituated bumblebees to establish a habitual route in a flight tunnel containing 'invisible' obstacles. We then confronted them with conflicting cues leading to different choice directions depending on whether they rely on movement or visual memories. The results suggest that they use movement memories to navigate, but also rely on visual memories to solve conflicting situations. We investigated whether the observed behaviour was due to other guidance systems, such as path integration or optic flow-based flight control, and found that neither of these systems was sufficient to explain the behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivier J N Bertrand
- Department of Neurobiology and Cognitive Interaction Technology Center of Excellence (CITEC) , Bielefeld University, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Charlotte Doussot
- Department of Neurobiology and Cognitive Interaction Technology Center of Excellence (CITEC) , Bielefeld University, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Tim Siesenop
- Department of Neurobiology and Cognitive Interaction Technology Center of Excellence (CITEC) , Bielefeld University, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Sridhar Ravi
- Department of Neurobiology and Cognitive Interaction Technology Center of Excellence (CITEC) , Bielefeld University, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany.,School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3083, Australia
| | - Martin Egelhaaf
- Department of Neurobiology and Cognitive Interaction Technology Center of Excellence (CITEC) , Bielefeld University, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany
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35
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Collado MÁ, Montaner CM, Molina FP, Sol D, Bartomeus I. Brain size predicts learning abilities in bees. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:201940. [PMID: 34017597 PMCID: PMC8131939 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.201940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
When it comes to the brain, bigger is generally considered better in terms of cognitive performance. While this notion is supported by studies of birds and primates showing that larger brains improve learning capacity, similar evidence is surprisingly lacking for invertebrates. Although the brain of invertebrates is smaller and simpler than that of vertebrates, recent work in insects has revealed enormous variation in size across species. Here, we ask whether bee species that have larger brains also have higher learning abilities. We conducted an experiment in which field-collected individuals had to associate an unconditioned stimulus (sucrose) with a conditioned stimulus (coloured strip). We found that most species can learn to associate a colour with a reward, yet some do so better than others. These differences in learning were related to brain size: species with larger brains-both absolute and relative to body size-exhibited enhanced performance to learn the reward-colour association. Our finding highlights the functional significance of brain size in insects, filling a major gap in our understanding of brain evolution and opening new opportunities for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Á. Collado
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avd. Americo Vespucio 26, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
- Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF-UAB), Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici C, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallés, Spain
| | - Cristina M. Montaner
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avd. Americo Vespucio 26, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
| | - Francisco P. Molina
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avd. Americo Vespucio 26, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
- Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF-UAB), Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici C, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallés, Spain
| | - Daniel Sol
- Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF-UAB), Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici C, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallés, Spain
| | - Ignasi Bartomeus
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avd. Americo Vespucio 26, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
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36
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Martins AE, Arista M, Morellato LPC, Camargo MGG. Color signals of bee-pollinated flowers: the significance of natural leaf background. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2021; 108:788-797. [PMID: 34056706 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.1656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2020] [Accepted: 12/29/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE Flower color is a primary pollinator attractant and generally adjusted to the cognitive system of the pollinators. The perception of flower color depends on the visual system of pollinators and also on environmental factors such as light conditions and the background against which flowers are displayed. METHODS Using bee-pollinated Fabaceae species as a model, we analyzed flower color diversity and compared flower color signals considering both the standard green and the natural leaf background of two tropical seasonally dry vegetations-a mountain rupestrian grassland (campo rupestre) and a woody savanna (cerrado)-compared to a nontropical Mediterranean shrubland. RESULTS By using natural background, bees discriminated color for 58% of the flowers in the campo rupestre and for only 43% in cerrado. Both vegetations were surpassed by 75% of bee color discrimination in Mediterranean vegetation. Chromatic contrast and purity were similar among the three vegetation types. Green contrast and brightness were similar between the tropical vegetations but differed from the Mediterranean shrubland. Green contrast differences were lost when using a standard green background, and most variables (purity, green contrast, and brightness) differed according to the background (natural or standard green) in all vegetations. CONCLUSIONS The natural background influenced bee perception of flower color regardless of vegetation. The background of the campo rupestre promoted green contrast for flowers, ensuring flower detection by pollinators and, along with bees, may also act as a selective pressure driving the diversity of flower colors in Fabaceae species. We highlight the importance of considering the natural background coloration when analyzing flower color signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda E Martins
- Department of Biodiversity, Phenology Lab, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Biosciences Institute, Av 24A, 1515, Rio Claro, São Paulo, 13506-900, Brazil
| | - Montserrat Arista
- Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, 41080, Spain
| | - Leonor Patricia Cerdeira Morellato
- Department of Biodiversity, Phenology Lab, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Biosciences Institute, Av 24A, 1515, Rio Claro, São Paulo, 13506-900, Brazil
| | - Maria Gabriela G Camargo
- Department of Biodiversity, Phenology Lab, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Biosciences Institute, Av 24A, 1515, Rio Claro, São Paulo, 13506-900, Brazil
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37
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Pagni M, Haikala V, Oberhauser V, Meyer PB, Reiff DF, Schnaitmann C. Interaction of “chromatic” and “achromatic” circuits in Drosophila color opponent processing. Curr Biol 2021; 31:1687-1698.e4. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2020] [Revised: 01/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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38
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Roth H, Wernet MF. Colour opponency: Chromatic and achromatic circuits in the mix. Curr Biol 2021; 31:R378-R381. [PMID: 33905693 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The molecular genetic dissection of Drosophila colour vision circuitry reveals converging pathways previously categorized as being chromatic versus achromatic. Amacrine-like Dm8 cells receive direct and indirect inputs with different spectral sensitivity tuning, thereby forming the second stage of colour-opponent processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heidi Roth
- Freie Universität Berlin, Fachbereich Biologie, Chemie and Pharmazie, Institut für Biologie, Division of Neurobiology, Königin-Luise Strasse 1-3, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Mathias F Wernet
- Freie Universität Berlin, Fachbereich Biologie, Chemie and Pharmazie, Institut für Biologie, Division of Neurobiology, Königin-Luise Strasse 1-3, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
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39
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Liénard MA, Bernard GD, Allen A, Lassance JM, Song S, Childers RR, Yu N, Ye D, Stephenson A, Valencia-Montoya WA, Salzman S, Whitaker MRL, Calonje M, Zhang F, Pierce NE. The evolution of red color vision is linked to coordinated rhodopsin tuning in lycaenid butterflies. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2008986118. [PMID: 33547236 PMCID: PMC8017955 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2008986118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Color vision has evolved multiple times in both vertebrates and invertebrates and is largely determined by the number and variation in spectral sensitivities of distinct opsin subclasses. However, because of the difficulty of expressing long-wavelength (LW) invertebrate opsins in vitro, our understanding of the molecular basis of functional shifts in opsin spectral sensitivities has been biased toward research primarily in vertebrates. This has restricted our ability to address whether invertebrate Gq protein-coupled opsins function in a novel or convergent way compared to vertebrate Gt opsins. Here we develop a robust heterologous expression system to purify invertebrate rhodopsins, identify specific amino acid changes responsible for adaptive spectral tuning, and pinpoint how molecular variation in invertebrate opsins underlie wavelength sensitivity shifts that enhance visual perception. By combining functional and optophysiological approaches, we disentangle the relative contributions of lateral filtering pigments from red-shifted LW and blue short-wavelength opsins expressed in distinct photoreceptor cells of individual ommatidia. We use in situ hybridization to visualize six ommatidial classes in the compound eye of a lycaenid butterfly with a four-opsin visual system. We show experimentally that certain key tuning residues underlying green spectral shifts in blue opsin paralogs have evolved repeatedly among short-wavelength opsin lineages. Taken together, our results demonstrate the interplay between regulatory and adaptive evolution at multiple Gq opsin loci, as well as how coordinated spectral shifts in LW and blue opsins can act together to enhance insect spectral sensitivity at blue and red wavelengths for visual performance adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marjorie A Liénard
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02142;
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Gary D Bernard
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
| | - Andrew Allen
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02142
| | - Jean-Marc Lassance
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Siliang Song
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Richard Rabideau Childers
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Nanfang Yu
- Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
| | - Dajia Ye
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Adriana Stephenson
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Wendy A Valencia-Montoya
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Shayla Salzman
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Melissa R L Whitaker
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | | | - Feng Zhang
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02142
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cambridge, MA 02139
| | - Naomi E Pierce
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
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40
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Collado MÁ, Menzel R, Sol D, Bartomeus I. Innovation in solitary bees is driven by exploration, shyness and activity levels. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:jeb232058. [PMID: 33443044 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.232058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Behavioural innovation and problem solving are widely considered to be important mechanisms by which animals respond to novel environmental challenges, including those induced by human activities. Despite their functional and ecological relevance, much of our current understanding of these processes comes from studies in vertebrates. Understanding of these processes in invertebrates has lagged behind partly because they are not perceived to have the cognitive machinery required. This perception is, however, challenged by recent evidence demonstrating sophisticated cognitive capabilities in insects despite their small brains. Here, we studied innovation, defined as the capacity to solve a new task, of a solitary bee (Osmia cornuta) in the laboratory by exposing naive individuals to an obstacle removal task. We also studied the underlying cognitive and non-cognitive mechanisms through a battery of experimental tests designed to measure associative learning, exploration, shyness and activity levels. We found that solitary bees can innovate, with 11 of 29 individuals (38%) being able to solve a new task consisting of lifting a lid to reach a reward. However, the propensity to innovate was uncorrelated with the measured learning capacity, but increased with exploration, boldness and activity. These results provide solid evidence that non-social insects can solve new tasks, and highlight the importance of interpreting innovation in the light of non-cognitive processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Á Collado
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avd. Americo Vespucio 26, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
- CREAF (Centre for Ecological Research and Applied Forestries), Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia E-08193, Spain
| | - Randolf Menzel
- Freire Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie, Königin-Luise-Str. 28/30, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Daniel Sol
- CREAF (Centre for Ecological Research and Applied Forestries), Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia E-08193, Spain
- CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia E-08193, Spain
| | - Ignasi Bartomeus
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avd. Americo Vespucio 26, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
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41
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van der Kooi CJ, Stavenga DG, Arikawa K, Belušič G, Kelber A. Evolution of Insect Color Vision: From Spectral Sensitivity to Visual Ecology. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY 2021; 66:435-461. [PMID: 32966103 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-061720-071644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 38.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Color vision is widespread among insects but varies among species, depending on the spectral sensitivities and interplay of the participating photoreceptors. The spectral sensitivity of a photoreceptor is principally determined by the absorption spectrum of the expressed visual pigment, but it can be modified by various optical and electrophysiological factors. For example, screening and filtering pigments, rhabdom waveguide properties, retinal structure, and neural processing all influence the perceived color signal. We review the diversity in compound eye structure, visual pigments, photoreceptor physiology, and visual ecology of insects. Based on an overview of the current information about the spectral sensitivities of insect photoreceptors, covering 221 species in 13 insect orders, we discuss the evolution of color vision and highlight present knowledge gaps and promising future research directions in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Casper J van der Kooi
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, 9700 AK Groningen, The Netherlands;
| | - Doekele G Stavenga
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, 9700 AK Groningen, The Netherlands;
| | - Kentaro Arikawa
- Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, SOKENDAI Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan;
| | - Gregor Belušič
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia;
| | - Almut Kelber
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, University of Lund, 22362 Lund, Sweden;
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42
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Suitability of resampled multispectral datasets for mapping flowering plants in the Kenyan savannah. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0232313. [PMID: 32960879 PMCID: PMC7508412 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Pollination services and honeybee health in general are important in the African savannahs particularly to farmers who often rely on honeybee products as a supplementary source of income. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the floral cycle, abundance and spatial distribution of melliferous plants in the African savannah landscapes. Furthermore, placement of apiaries in the landscapes could benefit from information on spatiotemporal patterns of flowering plants, by optimising honeybees’ foraging behaviours, which could improve apiary productivity. This study sought to assess the suitability of simulated multispectral data for mapping melliferous (flowering) plants in the African savannahs. Bi-temporal AISA Eagle hyperspectral images, resampled to four sensors (i.e. WorldView-2, RapidEye, Spot-6 and Sentinel-2) spatial and spectral resolutions, and a 10-cm ultra-high spatial resolution aerial imagery coinciding with onset and peak flowering periods were used in this study. Ground reference data was collected at the time of imagery capture. The advanced machine learning random forest (RF) classifier was used to map the flowering plants at a landscape scale and a classification accuracy validated using 30% independent test samples. The results showed that 93.33%, 69.43%, 67.52% and 82.18% accuracies could be achieved using WorldView-2, RapidEye, Spot-6 and Sentinel-2 data sets respectively, at the peak flowering period. Our study provides a basis for the development of operational and cost-effective approaches for mapping flowering plants in an African semiarid agroecological landscape. Specifically, such mapping approaches are valuable in providing timely and reliable advisory tools for guiding the implementation of beekeeping systems at a landscape scale.
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Bräuer J, Hanus D, Pika S, Gray R, Uomini N. Old and New Approaches to Animal Cognition: There Is Not "One Cognition". J Intell 2020; 8:E28. [PMID: 32630788 PMCID: PMC7555673 DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence8030028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Revised: 05/29/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Using the comparative approach, researchers draw inferences about the evolution of cognition. Psychologists have postulated several hypotheses to explain why certain species are cognitively more flexible than others, and these hypotheses assume that certain cognitive skills are linked together to create a generally "smart" species. However, empirical findings suggest that several animal species are highly specialized, showing exceptional skills in single cognitive domains while performing poorly in others. Although some cognitive skills may indeed overlap, we cannot a priori assume that they do across species. We argue that the term "cognition" has often been used by applying an anthropocentric viewpoint rather than a biocentric one. As a result, researchers tend to overrate cognitive skills that are human-like and assume that certain skills cluster together in other animals as they do in our own species. In this paper, we emphasize that specific physical and social environments create selection pressures that lead to the evolution of certain cognitive adaptations. Skills such as following the pointing gesture, tool-use, perspective-taking, or the ability to cooperate evolve independently from each other as a concrete result of specific selection pressures, and thus have appeared in distantly related species. Thus, there is not "one cognition". Our argument is founded upon traditional Darwinian thinking, which-although always at the forefront of biology-has sometimes been neglected in animal cognition research. In accordance with the biocentric approach, we advocate a broader empirical perspective as we are convinced that to better understand animal minds, comparative researchers should focus much more on questions and experiments that are ecologically valid. We should investigate nonhuman cognition for its own sake, not only in comparison to the human model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliane Bräuer
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
- Department of General Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Am Steiger 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Daniel Hanus
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Simone Pika
- Institute of Cognitive Science, Comparative BioCognition, University of Osnabrück, Artilleriestrasse 34, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Russell Gray
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Natalie Uomini
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
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Complexity and plasticity in honey bee phototactic behaviour. Sci Rep 2020; 10:7872. [PMID: 32398687 PMCID: PMC7217928 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-64782-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to move towards or away from a light source, namely phototaxis, is essential for a number of species to find the right environmental niche and may have driven the appearance of simple visual systems. In this study we ask if the later evolution of more complex visual systems was accompanied by a sophistication of phototactic behaviour. The honey bee is an ideal model organism to tackle this question, as it has an elaborate visual system, demonstrates exquisite abilities for visual learning and performs phototaxis. Our data suggest that in this insect, phototaxis has wavelength specific properties and is a highly dynamical response including multiple decision steps. In addition, we show that previous experience with a light (through exposure or classical aversive conditioning) modulates the phototactic response. This plasticity is dependent on the wavelength used, with blue being more labile than green or ultraviolet. Wavelength, intensity and past experience are integrated into an overall valence for each light that determines phototactic behaviour in honey bees. Thus, our results support the idea that complex visual systems allow sophisticated phototaxis. Future studies could take advantage of these findings to better understand the neuronal circuits underlying this processing of the visual information.
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Townsley CR, Breza JM, Mast TG. Movement assay for the undergraduate neuroscience laboratory. HARDWAREX 2020; 7:e00094. [PMID: 32939422 PMCID: PMC7491750 DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2020.e00094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2019] [Revised: 11/25/2019] [Accepted: 01/06/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Described is a design for easy-to-construct apparatus that measures movement of flying insects suitable for the undergraduate teaching laboratory. The system does not require the purchase of specialized scientific equipment or software. The apparatus can be constructed and operated without advanced knowledge in electronics or programming. The goal of this apparatus was to expand upon previous research detecting insect flight in response to radiation. We improved upon the quantification and resolution of flight across differing intensities of white light. All of this was achieved using low-cost and commonly available materials and open-source software to collect and analyze data. The only substantial prerequisites for this design are a PC with a 3.5 mm microphone input and an understanding of basic electrical connections. The apparatus was validated with comparative physiological data from two different species of butterfly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cody R. Townsley
- Program in Neuroscience, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA
| | - Joseph M. Breza
- Program in Neuroscience, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA
- Department of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA
| | - Thomas G. Mast
- Program in Neuroscience, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA
- Department of Biology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA
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Schnaitmann C, Pagni M, Reiff DF. Color vision in insects: insights from Drosophila. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2020; 206:183-198. [PMID: 32020291 PMCID: PMC7069916 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-019-01397-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2019] [Revised: 12/12/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Color vision is an important sensory capability that enhances the detection of contrast in retinal images. Monochromatic animals exclusively detect temporal and spatial changes in luminance, whereas two or more types of photoreceptors and neuronal circuitries for the comparison of their responses enable animals to differentiate spectral information independent of intensity. Much of what we know about the cellular and physiological mechanisms underlying color vision comes from research on vertebrates including primates. In insects, many important discoveries have been made, but direct insights into the physiology and circuit implementation of color vision are still limited. Recent advances in Drosophila systems neuroscience suggest that a complete insect color vision circuitry, from photoreceptors to behavior, including all elements and computations, can be revealed in future. Here, we review fundamental concepts in color vision alongside our current understanding of the neuronal basis of color vision in Drosophila, including side views to selected other insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Schnaitmann
- Department for Animal Physiology and Neurobiology, Institute of Biology I, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Freiburg, 79104, Germany
| | - Manuel Pagni
- Department for Animal Physiology and Neurobiology, Institute of Biology I, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Freiburg, 79104, Germany
| | - Dierk F Reiff
- Department for Animal Physiology and Neurobiology, Institute of Biology I, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Freiburg, 79104, Germany.
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Peach K, Liu JW, Klitgaard KN, Mazer SJ. Sex-specific floral attraction traits in a sequentially hermaphroditic species. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:1856-1875. [PMID: 32128121 PMCID: PMC7042773 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Revised: 12/04/2019] [Accepted: 12/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
●Many angiosperms are hermaphroditic and produce bisexual flowers in which male (pollen export) and female (stigma receptivity) functions are separated temporally. This sequential hermaphroditism may be associated with variation in flower size, color, or pattern, all of which may influence pollinator attraction. In this study, we describe variation in these traits across discrete functional sex stages within and between 225 greenhouse-grown individuals of Clarkia unguiculata (Onagraceae). In addition, to identify the effects of floral phenotype on pollinator attraction in this species, we examine the effects of these floral traits on pollen receipt in ~180 individuals in an experimental field array.●Petal area, ultraviolet (UV)-absorbing nectar guide area, and blue and green mean petal reflectance differ significantly across the functional sex stages of C. unguiculata. Male- and female-phase flowers display significantly different pollinator attraction traits. Petal and UV nectar guide area increase as flowers progress from male phase to female phase, while blue reflectance and green reflectance peak during anther maturation.●In field arrays of C. unguiculata, female-phase flowers with large UV nectar guides receive more pollen than those with small nectar guides, and female-phase flowers with high mean blue reflectance values are more likely to receive pollen than those with low blue reflectance. Female-phase flowers with green mean reflectance values that differ most from background foliage also receive more pollen than those that are more similar to foliage. These findings indicate that components of flower color and pattern influence pollen receipt, independent of other plant attributes that may covary with floral traits. We discuss these results in the context of hypotheses that have been proposed to explain sex-specific floral attraction traits, and we suggest future research that could improve our understanding of sexual dimorphism in sequentially hermaphroditic species and the evolution of features that promote outcrossing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen Peach
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine BiologyUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraSanta BarbaraCAUSA
| | - Jasen W. Liu
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine BiologyUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraSanta BarbaraCAUSA
| | - Kristen N. Klitgaard
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine BiologyUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraSanta BarbaraCAUSA
| | - Susan J. Mazer
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine BiologyUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraSanta BarbaraCAUSA
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Yonekura T, Yamauchi J, Morimoto T, Seki Y. Spectral response properties of higher visual neurons in Drosophila melanogaster. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2019; 206:217-232. [DOI: 10.1007/s00359-019-01391-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2019] [Revised: 11/27/2019] [Accepted: 11/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Toussaint EFA, Warren AD. A review of red-eye pigmentation and diel activity patterns in skippers (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea, Hesperiidae). J NAT HIST 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2019.1692090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrew D. Warren
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
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Kelber A, Somanathan H. Spatial Vision and Visually Guided Behavior in Apidae. INSECTS 2019; 10:insects10120418. [PMID: 31766747 PMCID: PMC6956220 DOI: 10.3390/insects10120418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2019] [Revised: 11/05/2019] [Accepted: 11/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
The family Apidae, which is amongst the largest bee families, are important pollinators globally and have been well studied for their visual adaptations and visually guided behaviors. This review is a synthesis of what is known about their eyes and visual capabilities. There are many species-specific differences, however, the relationship between body size, eye size, resolution, and sensitivity shows common patterns. Salient differences between castes and sexes are evident in important visually guided behaviors such as nest defense and mate search. We highlight that Apis mellifera and Bombus terrestris are popular bee models employed in the majority of studies that have contributed immensely to our understanding vision in bees. However, other species, specifically the tropical and many non-social Apidae, merit further investigation for a better understanding of the influence of ecological conditions on the evolution of bee vision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Almut Kelber
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, 22362 Lund, Sweden
- Correspondence: (A.K.); (H.S.)
| | - Hema Somanathan
- IISER TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Maruthamala PO, Vithura, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695551, India
- Correspondence: (A.K.); (H.S.)
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