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Nocturnal vision: bees in the dark
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 23:57 authored by Michael F LandSome eyes work better in the dark than others. The apposition type of compound eye that bees and other diurnal insects possess is usually of little use after nightfall. Nevertheless some tropical sweat bees have pushed the limits of this unfavourable design so far that they can navigate using landmarks that are too dim for humans to make out. The problem with trying to see in near darkness is that very few photons reach the rhodopsin molecules in the photoreceptors. As photon arrivals are unpredictable, low numbers mean unreliable statistics – just as they do in any other task. In vision, this unreliability takes the form of progressive loss of sensitivity to contrast in the image, which in turn leads to loss of spatial resolution. All this is familiar from our own experience.
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Publication status
- Published
Journal
Current BiologyISSN
0960-9822Publisher
ElsevierExternal DOI
Issue
15Volume
14Page range
R615-R616Department affiliated with
- Biology and Environmental Science Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2012-02-06Usage metrics
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