@article {22894, title = {The relative importance of olfaction and vision in a diurnal and a nocturnal hawkmoth}, journal = {Journal of Comparative Physiology A}, volume = {192}, year = {2006}, month = {12/2006}, pages = {431-437}, chapter = {431}, abstract = {

\"Nectar-feeding animals can use vision and olfaction to find rewarding flowers and different species may give different weight to the two sensory modalities. We have studied how a diurnal or nocturnal lifestyle affects the weight given to vision and olfaction. We tested na\ïve hawkmoths of two species in a wind tunnel, presenting an odour source and a visual stimulus. Although the two species belong to the same subfamily of sphingids, the Macroglossinae, their behaviour was quite different. The nocturnal Deilephila elpenor responded preferably to the odour while the diurnal Macroglossum stellatarum strongly favoured the visual stimulus. Since a nocturnal lifestyle is ancestral for sphingids, the diurnal species, M. stellatarum, has evolved from nocturnal moths that primarily used olfaction. During bright daylight visual cues may have became more important than odour.\"

}, keywords = {DEILEPHILA, MACROGLOSSUM, OLFACTION, PHYSIOLOGY, SPHINGIDAE, VISION}, doi = {10.1007/s00359-005-0081-6}, author = {Balkenius, A. and Ros{\'e}n, W. and Kelber, A.} } @article {21488, title = {Visual position stabilization in the hummingbird hawk moth, Macroglossum stellatarum L. I. Behavioural analysis}, journal = {Journal of Comparative Physiology A}, volume = {182}, year = {1998}, pages = {225-237}, chapter = {225}, abstract = {

\"Optomotor responses of freely flying hawk moths, Macroglossum stellatarum, were characterized while the animals were hovering in front of and feeding on a dummy flower. Compensatory translational and rotational movements of the hawk moth were elicited by vertical grating patterns moving horizontally, mimicking imposed rotational and translational displacements of the animal in the horizontal plane. Oscillatory translational and rotational pattern motion leads to compensatory responses that peak in the frequency range between 2 Hz and 4\ Hz. The control systems mediating the translational and rotational components of the optomotor response do not seem to influence each other. The system mediating translational responses is more sensitive in the fronto-lateral part of the visual field than in the lateral part; the opposite is true for the rotational system. The sensitivity of the translational system does not change along the vertical, whereas the rotational system is much more sensitive to motion in the dorsal than in the ventral part of the visual field. These sensitivity gradients may reflect an adaptation to the specific requirements of position stabilization in front of flowers during feeding.\"

}, keywords = {HOVERING, MACROGLOSSUM, OPTOMOTOR BEHAVIOUR, POSITION STABILIZATION, SPHINGIDAE, VISION}, doi = {10.1007/s003590050173}, author = {Kern, R. and Varj{\'u}, D.} } @article {21486, title = {Fundamental differences in the optical structure of the eyes of nocturnal and diurnal mosquitoes}, journal = {Journal of Comparative Physiology A}, volume = {185}, year = {1999}, pages = {91-103}, chapter = {91}, abstract = {

\"We have studied the anatomy and optics of the eyes of a range of mosquito species from the wholly dark-active blood-feeding Anopheles gambiae to the diurnal plant-feeder Toxorhynchites brevipalpis. Consistent with studies by Sat\ô in the 1950s, we find that dark-active and crepuscular species have short fused rhabdoms with a conical construction. This maximises the amount of light the rhabdoms receive from the almost hemispherical wide-aperture lenses.\  Toxorhynchites, on the other hand, has long narrow rhabdomeres that are separated from each other over their entire length, and so resemble the open rhabdoms of advanced flies (Brachycera and Cyclorrhapha). These findings are confirmed by studies of the pseudopupil, whose form indicates the layout of the rhabdomere tips in the focal plane of each ommatidial lens. In anopheline species the pseudopupil is a single undivided ellipse, indicating a fused rhabdom structure, whereas in Toxorhynchites there is a ring of six outer elements surrounding a central one. This means that each rhabdomere views a separate direction in space, and our measurements indicate that, as in higher Diptera, adjacent rhabdomeres share their fields of view with one of the rhabdomeres in the immediately adjacent ommatidia. This in turn means that in the diurnal type of mosquito eye there is a basis for neural superposition, but the fused construction of anopheline rhabdoms precludes this. The Aedes species studied were similar to Anopheles but with lenses of less extreme aperture, and Sabethes cyaneus, a diurnal blood-feeder, was intermediate in structure, with fused conical rhabdoms in the centre of the eye and unfused
rhabdomeres around the periphery.\"

}, keywords = {AEDES, ANOPHELES, CULICIDAE, CULISETA, NEURAL SUPERPOSITION, OMMATIDIUM, OPTICS, PHYSIOLOGY, PSEUDOPUPIL, RHABDOMES, SABETHES, TOXORHYNCHITES, VISION}, author = {Land, M.F. and Gibson, G. and Horwood, J. and Zeil, J.} } @article {21314, title = {Trichromatic colour vision in the hummingbird hawkmoth, Macroglossum stellatarum}, journal = {Journal of Comparative Physiology A}, volume = {184}, year = {1999}, pages = {535-541}, chapter = {535}, abstract = {

\"Hymenopterans have long been shown to choose colours by means of the spectral distribution and independently of the intensity (true colour vision). The same ability has only very recently been proven for two butterfly species. We present evidence for the existence of true colour vision in the European hummingbird hawkmoth, Macroglossum stellatarum. Moths were trained in dual-choice situations to spectral lights of a rewarding and an unrewarding wavelength. After training, unrewarded tests were performed during which the intensities of the lights were changed. The results confirm that the species has three spectral receptor types and uses true colour vision when learning the colour of a food source. If colour vision is not possible since only one receptor type is receiving input from both stimuli, the moths learn to associate some achromatic cue correlated to the receptor quantum catch, with the reward. The moths learn spectral cues rapidly and choose correctly after one to several rewarded visits even when trained to different colours in sequence.\"

}, keywords = {COLOUR VISION, MACROGLOSSUM, SPHINGIDAE, VISION}, doi = {10.1007/s003590050353}, author = {Kelber, A. and H{\'e}nique, U.} } @article {21312, title = {Colour discrimination in dim light: an analysis of the photoreceptor arrangement in the moth Deilephila}, journal = {Journal of Comparative Physiology A}, volume = {129}, year = {1979}, pages = {257-267}, chapter = {257}, abstract = {

\"Visual pigment absorption and spectral sensitivity are calculated for a model rhabdom based on the Deilephila rhabdom. The effect of different sky light intensity spectra on absorption and spectral sensitivity is examined, and the importance of the receptor arrangement for colour vision discussed. The quality of colour perception which can be expected for such an eye is estimated. The calculations reveal, firstly, a balance between the spectral bandwidths of rhodopsin absorption spectra and the distances between their maxima, which is of great significance with respect to colour vision. Secondly, they show that the quality of colour discrimination for dim light, at luminance levels between 0.1 and 10 cd/m2, is comparable to the performance of the human eye at much higher levels of luminance.\"

}, keywords = {COLOUR VISION, DEILEPHILA, RHODOPSIN, SPHINGIDAE}, doi = {10.1007/BF00657662}, author = {Schlecht, P.} } @article {21311, title = {Three visual pigments in Deilephila elpenor (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae)}, journal = {Journal of Comparative Physiology A}, volume = {86}, year = {1973}, pages = {215-229}, chapter = {215}, abstract = {

\"Selective irradiation of digitonin extracts (pH 6.1) from dark-adapted eyes of the Sphingid moth Deilephila elpenor revealed three visual pigments with \λmax at about 345, 440 and 520 nm. From the reaction of the chromophoric group with hydroxylamine it is concluded that these pigments are based on retinaldehyde, and therefore can be classed with rhodopsins. At \−15 \°C, each of the rhodopsins can completely (P 520) or partially (P 440 and P 345) be converted by light to acid metarhodopsin absorbing maximally at 480 \± 10 nm, which decay at room temperature to retinaldehyde and protein moiety. Spectrophotometric measurements on isolated retinae (pH 7.4) indicate that the metarhodopsins, in contrast to the findings on extracts, are thermostable in the photoreceptor membrane at room temperature. The results are compared with electrophysiological and microspectrophotometrical data. The different properties of the metarhodopsins in detergent solution and in the isolated retina are discussed.\"

}, keywords = {COLOUR VISION, DEILEPHILA, RHODOPSIN, SPHINGIDAE, VISION}, doi = {10.1007/BF00696341}, author = {Schwemer, J. and Paulsen, R.} } @article {20603, title = {Proprioceptive activity of the wing-hinge stretch receptor in Manduca sexta and other atympanate moths: a study of the noctuoid moth ear B cell homologue}, journal = {Journal of Comparative Physiology A}, volume = {173}, year = {1993}, note = {A}, month = {1993}, pages = {301-307}, chapter = {301}, abstract = {

\"A multiterminal neurone, recently identified at the wing-hinge of the atympanate moth Manduca sexta, is shown to respond as a proprioceptor monitoring elevatory movements of the hind wing. Extracellular recordings from the individual receptor axon confirm this cell to be the source of the spontaneous and regular discharge observed in previous recordings of peripheral nerve 3N1b1. When the wing is raised, this tonic discharge rate increases proportionally with the angle of elevation. When the wing is displaced sinusoidally at a low frequency, the receptor discharge is modulated throughout the wing beat, increasing steadily to a maximum at the top of the upstroke, then slowly decreasing to a minimum at the bottom of the downstroke. At higher wing-beat frequencies, a phasic burst of activity occurs near the top of the upstroke, followed by a silent period during the down-stroke. Video-microscopic observations of the wing-hinge during active, stationary flight suggest that the receptor is stimulated by the stretching of its peripheral attachment, the subalar membrane. Stretch receptor sensitivity to wing movement is demonstrated in representatives of 4 lepidopteran families, suggesting that the proprioceptive response is widespread among the Lepidoptera. The functional role of the wing-hinge receptor, and its proposed homologous relationship to both the B cell of the noctuoid moth ear, and the locust wing-hinge stretch receptor are discussed.\"

}, keywords = {ANATOMY, MANDUCA, NERVOUS SYSTEM, SPHINGIDAE, TYMPANAL ORGANS}, url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00212694}, author = {Yack, J.E. and Fullard, J.H.} }