Western honey bee vs Asian swallowtail: how their vision differs
Two animals people expect to see alike, or very differently. Here are their values side by side, from the same catalogue and with the same evidence labels.
The differences in numbers
- The western honey bee has 3 colour receptor classes and the Asian swallowtail 5.
- The Asian swallowtail resolves finer detail: 0.56 vs 0.25 cycles per degree, about 2.2 times finer.
- Flicker fusion: 220 Hz for the western honey bee, 107 Hz for the Asian swallowtail. The higher value sees fast motion in finer time steps.
Dial by dial
| Dial | Western honey bee | Asian swallowtail |
|---|---|---|
| Colour | Colour receptors: 3 receptor classes: 344 nm (UVS), 436 nm (VS/SWS (violet)), 556 nm (LWS (long)) Measured (not re-verified)[1][2][3] Ultraviolet: yes: at least one receptor peaks in the ultraviolet Measured (not re-verified) | Colour receptors: 5 receptor classes: 360 nm (UVS), 400 nm (VS/SWS (violet)), 440 nm (SWS (blue)), 520 nm (MWS (green)), 600 nm (LWS (long)) Measured (not re-verified)[1][4][5] Ultraviolet: yes: at least one receptor peaks in the ultraviolet Measured (not re-verified) |
| Sharpness | Acuity: 0.25 cycles per degree Measured (not re-verified)[6] Angle between facets: 0.8° Measured[7] Eye type: compound eye | Acuity: 0.56 cycles per degree Estimated[7] Angle between facets: 0.9° Estimated[7] Eye type: compound eye |
| Field of view | No value | No value |
| Sharp zones (foveas) | Number of foveas: 0 Measured (not re-verified)[8] | Number of foveas: 0 Group default[10] Fovea type: none Group default[10] |
| Night vision | Activity pattern: diurnal Measured[4] Rods vs cones: no rods (invertebrate photoreceptors) Derived[4] | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | Flicker fusion frequency: 107 Hz Measured[13] |
Vision types: Western honey bee: Bee, ant and locust UV trichromat. Asian swallowtail: Butterfly multispectral.
More comparisons: all comparisons.
Sources
- Kelber A, Vorobyev M, Osorio D. 2003. Animal colour vision - behavioural tests and physiological concepts. Biol Rev 78:81-118. doi.org/10.1017/S1464793102005985
- Kirwan J. luxR 0.1.1: Underwater Light Analysis and Visual Ecology (R-universe), data species_sensitivities. github.com/JohnKirwan/luxR
- Porter ML et al. 2006 Table 1 (opsin accessions with lambda max; mostly cephalopod/arthropod) as extracted by VPOD. github.com/VisualPhysiologyDB/visual-physiology-opsin-db
- 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
- Kelber A, Somanathan H 2019. Spatial Vision and Visually Guided Behavior in Apidae. Insects. doi.org/10.3390/insects10120418
- 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
- species_v1:Rigosi, Warrant & O'Carroll 2021
- Rigosi E, Warrant EJ, O'Carroll DC. 2021. A new, fluorescence-based method for visualizing the pseudopupil and assessing optical acuity in the dark compound eyes of honeybees and other insects. Scientific reports 11(1):21267. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00407-2
- Comparative data for dance fly eye morphology and female ornamentation (Empididae). Data: Dryad doi:10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxd5z. doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxd5z
- Feuda R, Marletaz F, Bentley MA, Holland PWH. 2016. Conservation, duplication, and divergence of five opsin genes in insect evolution. Genome Biol Evol 8:579-587
- 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
- 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
Renders use the sample scene at a 60° field of view in daylight. Evidence levels: how the tiers work.