How does the elephant hawk-moth see?
The elephant hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor) is a insect in the order Lepidoptera. Its eyes belong to the vision type Colour or navigation at night.
Measured in this species: colour, sharpness and night vision. Measured core: measured values on at least 3 of the 6 dials. Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.
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What stands out
- It has three colour receptor classes, like most people, but one of them sees ultraviolet.
- Its sharpest vision resolves 0.25 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
- It stops seeing flicker at 126.85 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks about 2.1 times slower to it.[8][9]
- Activity pattern: nocturnal.
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 3 receptor classes: 346.2 nm (UVS), 442.5 nm (SWS (blue)), 521.2 nm (MWS (green)) measured in this species | Measured | [1][2] |
| Ultraviolet yes: at least one receptor peaks in the ultraviolet | Measured | ||
| Sharpness | Acuity 0.25 cycles per degree median of 1 compilation rows (method priority rule) | Measured | [3] |
| Angle between facets 1.42° minimum (acute-zone) interommatidial angle over sources; within currea2023_oda: minimum (round-1 rule: mean of horizontal and vertical when both exist) | Measured (not re-verified) | [4] | |
| 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 | [5] |
| Fovea type none | Group default | [5] | |
| Night vision | Activity pattern nocturnal mode of 1 rows (of 1 rows): nocturnal | 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 126.85 Hz median of 6 relatives in family Sphingidae: Daphnis nerii, Acherontia styx, Agrius convolvuli, Cephonodes hylas, Macroglossum limata, Psilogramma increta | Estimated | [6][7] |
Related animals
- Hummingbird hawk-moth same vision type
- Tokay gecko same vision type
- Helmet gecko same vision type
- Inagua least gecko same vision type
- Indo-Pacific gecko same vision type
- Nocturnal sweat bee 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
- Feller KD, Sharkey CR, McDuffee-Altekruse A, Bracken-Grissom HD, Lord NP, Porter ML, Schweikert LE 2021. Surf and turf vision: patterns and predictors of visual acuity in compound eye evolution. Arthropod Structure & Development 60:101002. doi.org/10.1016/j.asd.2020.101002
- Currea JP, Sondhi Y, Kawahara AY, Theobald J. 2023. Measuring compound eye optics with microscope and microCT images. Commun Biol 6:246
- Comparative data for dance fly eye morphology and female ornamentation (Empididae). Data: Dryad doi:10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxd5z. doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxd5z
- Haarlem CS, Hynes C, Jackson AL, Mitchell KJ, O'Connell RG, Healy K. 2026. Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom. Nature Ecology & Evolution (doi:10.1038/s41559-026-02994-7). Figshare dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475. doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475
- 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?