Miniaturisation: Implications on the design of the visual system in ants
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1
Australian National University, Australia
Miniaturisation is the reduction of adult body size in a given lineage over an evolutionary timescale, where further reduction in size is not possible due to physical limits on the function of biological systems. Studying miniaturisation allows a better understanding of the design constraints operating on a given system and an opportunity to observe novel approaches to design challenges. A prime example of miniaturisation is in the family Formicidae, where the body size varies dramatically not only between species but also within a single species. Despite this variability all animals face similar challenges and tasks, especially in the context of navigation. Here, we studied the structure of the visual systems of ant species of varying body sizes (Fig. 1). We know from earlier work that time of activity greatly influences the design of the visual system. We hence report our findings of variation in eye morphology relative to body size and activity times to discuss the implications of miniaturisation in ants. Our results seem to indicate that as body size decreases the number of facets in an eye decrease while the diameter of facets is conserved. However, time of activity also plays a major role in determining the dimensions of eye optic elements. This is particularly apparent in non-miniaturised species which are more able to invest in large eyes but do not always do so.
Keywords:
miniaturisation,
ant,
Vision,
Compound eye,
temporal ecology,
Body Size
Conference:
International Conference on Invertebrate Vision, Fjälkinge, Sweden, 1 Aug - 8 Aug, 2013.
Presentation Type:
Poster presentation preferred
Topic:
Eye design, optics and spatial vision
Citation:
Ramirez Esquivel
F,
Rug
M,
Zeil
J and
Narendra
A
(2019). Miniaturisation: Implications on the design of the visual system in ants.
Front. Physiol.
Conference Abstract:
International Conference on Invertebrate Vision.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fphys.2013.25.00095
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Received:
27 Feb 2013;
Published Online:
09 Dec 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Ms. Fiorella Ramirez Esquivel, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, u4535365@anu.edu.au