Chromatic effects and regional specialisation of looming detection in the swallowtail butterfly
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1
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, Japan
Animals that possess colour vision may nevertheless have achromatic motion vision. For instance, Drosophila exhibit a negligible optomotor response to a pattern of two appropriately tuned colours, indicating that motion is basically detected by a single photoreceptor type [1] (but see [2]).
We present expanding chequerboard patterns (Fig A) to tethered Papilio xuthus, whose general behavioural responses (wing beating, leg extension, etc.) are quantified using video recordings. The background is kept at a constant intensity of one colour, while the looming figure is presented in varying intensities of another. At no point is the response eliminated (Fig B), demonstrating that moving chromatic contrasts can be detected, i.e. motion vision is not “colour blind”. However, responses decrease in magnitude around the point in relative intensity where the two colours would equally stimulate the green-sensitive R3/4 photoreceptors [3], suggesting that these cells play a dominant role in motion detection.
Across a variety of stimulus conditions, Papilio are more sensitive to expansion in the ventral visual field than the dorsal (c.f. Foma-1 neurons in Drosophila [4]). Among monochromatic blue patterns, a dark looming figure on a bright background elicits a larger response than vice versa (Fig C). This asymmetry is not seen with red stimuli, and an intermediate situation exists for green.
Fig A Looming stimulus. For ventral/dorsal experiments, the portion above/below the dashed line is masked out with the background colour. B Responses to a looming blue figure on a green background. A response metric of 0 means no difference from baseline activity. Arrow denotes the predicted point of equal luminance for R3/4 receptors. C Responses to a blue figure on black, and vice versa.
References
1. Yamaguchi et al (2008) Proc Natl Acad Sci 105, 4910-5.
2. Wardill et al (2012) Science 336, 925-31.
3. Arikawa (2003) J Comp Physiol A 189, 791-800.
4. de Vries & Clandinin (2012) Curr Biol 22, 353-62.
Keywords:
motion vision,
Color,
papilio,
butterfly,
looming,
Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate,
Behavior, Animal
Conference:
International Conference on Invertebrate Vision, Fjälkinge, Sweden, 1 Aug - 8 Aug, 2013.
Presentation Type:
Poster presentation preferred
Topic:
Motion vision
Citation:
Stewart
FJ,
Kinoshita
M and
Arikawa
K
(2019). Chromatic effects and regional specialisation of looming detection in the swallowtail butterfly.
Front. Physiol.
Conference Abstract:
International Conference on Invertebrate Vision.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fphys.2013.25.00024
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Received:
27 Feb 2013;
Published Online:
09 Dec 2019.
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Correspondence:
Dr. Finlay J Stewart, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, Hayama, Japan, stewart@soken.ac.jp