How does the common bluebottle butterfly see?
The common bluebottle butterfly (Graphium sarpedon) is a insect in the order Lepidoptera. Its eyes belong to the vision type Butterfly multispectral.
Measured in this species: colour and night vision. Measured colour or sharpness: a measured receptor set or acuity in this species; other dials come from relatives or group defaults. Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.
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What stands out
- It has 10 colour receptor classes, including ultraviolet; people have 3.
- Its sharpest vision resolves 0.635 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
- It stops seeing flicker at 107 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks about 1.8 times slower to it.[6][7]
- Activity pattern: diurnal.
The six dials
Evidence levels: how the tiers work. "Measured" means a value measured in this species; "Estimated" values come from a close relative or an eye-size formula.
| Dial | Value | Evidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | Colour receptors 10 receptor classes: 360 nm (UVS), 400 nm (VS/SWS (violet)), 460 nm (SWS (blue)), 480 nm (MWS (green)), 500 nm (MWS (green)), 540 nm (LWS (long)), 560 nm (LWS (long)), 580 nm (LWS (long)), 600 nm (LWS (long)), 640 nm (LWS (long)) measured in this species | Measured | [1][2] |
| Ultraviolet yes: at least one receptor peaks in the ultraviolet | Measured | ||
| Sharpness | Acuity 0.635 cycles per degree median of 2 relatives in family Papilionidae: Battus philenor, Papilio machaon | Estimated | [3] |
| Angle between facets 0.8° median of 2 relatives in family Papilionidae: Battus philenor, Papilio machaon | Estimated | [3] | |
| Eye type compound eye | |||
| Field of view | No value in the catalogue. | ||
| Sharp zones (foveas) | Number of foveas 0 median of 91 relatives in class Insecta: Empis prodromus, Rhamphomyia albidiventris, Rhamphomyia breviventris, Rhamphomyia maculipennis, Rhamphomyia marginata, Rhamphomyia murina | Group default | [4] |
| Fovea type none | Group default | [4] | |
| Night vision | Activity pattern diurnal mode of 1 rows (of 1 rows): diurnal | Measured | [1] |
| Rods vs cones no rods (invertebrate photoreceptors) nocturnal -> rod-dominated; crepuscular / cathemeral / mixed -> mixed; diurnal -> cone-dominated | Derived | [1] | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | Flicker fusion frequency 107 Hz median of 3 relatives in family Papilionidae: Papilio demoleus, Papilio polytes, Papilio xuthus | Estimated | [5] |
Related animals
- Asian swallowtail same vision type
- Coffee bee hawkmoth same vision type
- Common eggfly same vision type
- Common evening brown same vision type
- Monarch butterfly same vision type
- Small white same vision type
More insects: all insects with measured vision data.
Sources
- Longcore T. 2023. A compendium of photopigment peak sensitivities and visual spectral response curves of terrestrial wildlife to guide design of outdoor nighttime lighting. Basic Appl Ecol 73:40-50. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2023.09.002. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8432720
- van der Kooi CJ, Stavenga DG, Arikawa K, Belusic G, Kelber A. 2021. Evolution of insect color vision: from spectral sensitivity to visual ecology. Annu Rev Entomol 66:435-461. Supplementary table. doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-061720-071644
- Caves EM, Brandley NC, Johnsen S (2018) Visual acuity and the evolution of signals. Trends Ecol Evol 33:358-372. Supplementary Tables S1-S3.. doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.03.001
- Comparative data for dance fly eye morphology and female ornamentation (Empididae). Data: Dryad doi:10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxd5z. doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxd5z
- Lafitte A, Sordello R, Legrand M, Nicolas V, Obein G, Reyjol Y. 2022. A flashing light may not be that flashy: A systematic review on critical fusion frequencies. PLoS ONE 17(12): e0279718. S10 File (CFF database). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279718
- Healy K, McNally L, Ruxton GD, Cooper N, Jackson AL. 2013. Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Animal Behaviour 86:685-696. Table 1. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.018
- Inger R, Bennie J, Davies TW, Gaston KJ. 2014. Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering artificial light. PLoS ONE 9(5): e98631. Table 3. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098631
Every value cites its sources (all sources). Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this?