11/9/2011 1
- L42. THE EYE OF THE FLY
- C. D. Hopkins
Neuroethology BIONB 4240 Nov 9, 2011
In superposition eyes, light from many focusing lenses converge on a small number of photoreceptors.
No pigment shielding between ommatidia Night flying insects
In apposition eyes the light from a single photoreceptor is focused on a single rhabdom
Eric Warrant and Marie Dacke (2011) Ann.
- Rev. Entomol.
Cajal’s Anatomical study of the Insect Eye
Cajal wrote, “ the complexity of the insect retina is stupendous, indeed disconcerting, and with no precedent in other animals”
lamina medulla lobula
Cajal’s figure reprinted in Llinas (2003) Nature reviews neuroscience
The eye of the fly is divided into ommatidia
Simmons and Young, 2010
Transduction takes place in the rhabdom
locust eye blow fly rhabdomeres remain separate Rhabdom fuses into single light collecting rod
Simmons and Young, 2010
Like vertebrates, insect eyes often have a fovea capable
- f acute vision
Here, for a praying mantis, the fovea is a small are, forward looking, where the mantis fixates on a prey. The facet diameter is larger in the fovea. The inter-
- mmotidial angle is reduced.
(more overlap).
Simmons and Young, 2010