Biological significance of distinguishing between similar colours in spectrally variable illumination: Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) as a case study

Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology

Volumn 190, Issue 2, 2004, Pages 105-114

  Dyer, A G ^a,c   Chittka, L ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WÜRZBURG   (Germany)

^b QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^c LA TROBE UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

Colour constancy; Colour vision; Evolution; Flowers; Insect vision

Indexed keywords

ANIMAL; ARTICLE; BEE; COLOR; COLOR VISION; COMPARATIVE STUDY; ILLUMINATION; METHODOLOGY; PERCEPTIVE DISCRIMINATION; PHOTOSTIMULATION; PHYSIOLOGY;

ANIMALS; BEES; COLOR; COLOR PERCEPTION; DISCRIMINATION (PSYCHOLOGY); LIGHTING; PHOTIC STIMULATION;

EID: 2142825020     PISSN: 03407594     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s00359-003-0475-2     Document Type: Article

References (49)

1. Chittka L (1992) The colour hexagon: a chromaticity diagram based on photoreceptor excitations as a generalized representation of colour opponency. J Comp Physiol A 170:533-543
2. Chittka L (1996) Does bee colour vision predate the evolution of flower color? Naturwissenschaften 83:136-138
3. Chittka L (1997) Bee color vision is optimal for coding flower color, but flower colours are not optimal for being coded-why? Israel J Plant Sci 45:115-127
4. Chittka L, Menzel R (1992) The evolutionary adaptation of flower colours and the insect pollinators' colour vision. J Comp Physiol A 171:171-181
5. Chittka L, Shmida A, Troje N, Menzel R (1994) Ultraviolet as a component of flower reflections, and the colour perception of Hymenoptera. Vision Res 34:1489-1508
6. Chittka L, Gumbert A, Kunze J (1997) Foraging dynamics of bumble bees: correlates of movements within and between plant species. Behav Ecol 8:239-249
7. Chittka L, Thomson JD, Waser NM (1999) Flower constancy, insect psychology, and plant evolution. Naturwissenschaften 86:361-377
8. Chittka L, Spaethe J, Schmidt A, Hickelsberger A (2001) Adaptation, constraint, and chance in the evolution of flower color and pollinator color vision. In: Chittka L, Thompson JD (eds) Cognitive ecology of pollination. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 106-126
9. Chittka L, Dyer A G, Bock F, Dornhaus A (2003) Bees trade off foraging speed for accuracy. Nature 424:388
10. Cott HB (1957) Adaptive colouration in animals. Methuen, London
11. Dyer AG (1996) Reflection of near-ultraviolet radiation from flowers of Australian native plants. Aust J Bot 44:473-488
12. Dyer AG (1998) The colour of flowers in spectrally variable illumination and insect pollinator vision. J Comp Physiol A 183:203-212
13. Dyer AG (1999a) Broad spectral sensitivities in the honeybee's photoreceptors limit colour constancy. J Comp Physiol A 185:445-453
14. Dyer AG (1999b) The colour of flowers in spectrally variable illumination and insect pollinator vision. PhD Thesis, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
15. Farmer EW, Taylor RM (1980). Visual search through color displays: effects of target-background similarity and background uniformity. Percept Psychophys 27:267-272
16. Fresquet N, Fournier D, Gauthier M (1998) A new attempt to assess the effect of learning processes on the cholinergic system: studies on fruitflies and honeybees. Comp Biochem Physiol 119B:349-358
17. Giurfa M, Núnez J, Backhaus W (1994) Odour and colour information in the foraging choice behaviour of the honeybee. J Comp Physiol A 175:773-779
18. Giurfa M, Núnez J, Chittka L, Menzel R (1995) Colour preferences of flower-naive honeybees. J Comp Physiol A 177:247-259
19. Giurfa M, Zhang S, Jenett A, Menzel R, Srinivasan M (2001) The concept of 'sameness' and 'difference' in an insect. Nature 410:930-933
20. Greggers U, Menzel R (1993) Memory dynamics and foraging strategies of honeybees. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 32:17-29
21. Gumbert A (2000) Color choices by bumble bees (Bombus terrestris): innate preferences and generalization after learning. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 48:36-43
22. Gumbert A, Kunze J, Chittka L (1999) Floral colour diversity in plant communities, bee colour space and a null model. Proc R Soc Lond Ser B 266:1711-1716
23. Helversen O von (1972a) The relationship between difference in stimuli and choice frequency in training experiments with the honeybee. In: Wehner R. (ed) Information processing in the visual system of anthropods. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 323-334
24. Helversen O von (1972b) Zur spektralen Unterschiedsempfindlichkeit der Honigbiene. J Comp Physiol 80:439-472
25. Hurvich L M (1981) Color vision. Sinauer, Sunderland, Mass, USA
26. Kevan PG, Backhaus W (1998) Color vision: ecology and evolution in making the best of the photic envirnment. In: Backhaus WGK, Kliegl R, Werner JS (eds) Color vision: perspectives from different disciplines. de Gruyter, Berlin, pp 163-183
27. Kevan PG, Giurfa M, Chittka L (1996) Why are there so many and so few white flowers? Trends Plant Sci 1:280-284
28. Kevan PG, Chittka L, Dyer AG (2001) Limits to the salience of ultraviolet: lessons from colour vision in bees and birds. J Exp Biol 204:2571-2580
29. Komatsu H, Ideura Y (1993) Relationships between color, shape, and pattern selectivities of neurons in the inferior temporal cortex of the monkey. J Neurophysiol 70:677-694
30. Land EH (1986) Recent advances in retinex theory. Vision Res 26:7-21
31. Land MF (1997) The resolution of insect compound eyes. Israel J Plant Sci 45:79-91
32. Lehrer M, Horridge GA, Zhang SW, Gadagkar R (1995) Shape vision in bees: innate preference for flower-like patterns. Philos Trans R Soc Lond Ser B 347:123-137
33. Lehrer M (1999) Dorsoventral asymmetry of colour discrimination in bees. J Comp Physiol A 184:195-206
34. Lythgoe JN (1979) The ecology of vision. Clarendon Press, Oxford
35. Mausfeld R (1998) Color perception: from Grassman codes to a dual code for object and illumination colours. In: Backhaus WGK, Kliegl R, Werner JS (eds) Color vision: perspectives from different disciplines. de Gruyter. Berlin, pp 219-250
36. Mazokhin-Porshnjakov GA (1966) Recognition of coloured objects by insects. In: Bernhard CG (ed) The functional organization of the compound eye. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 163-170
37. Menzel R, Backhaus W (1991) Colour vision in insects. In: Gouras P (ed) Vision and visual dysfunction, vol 6. The perception of colour. Macmillan Press, London, UK, pp 262-293
38. Neumeyer C (1981) Chromatic adaptation in the honey bee: successive color contrast and color constancy. J Comp Physiol A 144:543-553
39. Newhall SM, Burnham RW, Clark JR (1957) Comparison of successive and simultaneous color matching. J Opt Soc Am 47:43-56
40. Peitsch D, Fietz A, Hertel H, Souza J de, Ventura DF, Menzel R (1992) The spectral input systems of hymenopteran insects and their receptor-based colour vision. J Comp Physiol A 170:23-40
41. Spaethe J, Chittka L (2003) Interindividual variation of eye optics and single object resolution in bumblebees. J Exp Biol 206:3447-3453
42. Spaethe J, Tautz J, Chittka L (2001) Visual constraints in foraging bumblebees: Flower size and color affect search time and flight behaviour. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:3898-3903
43. Sumner P, Mollon JD (2000) Catarrhine photopigments are optimized for detecting targets against a foliage background. J Exp Biol 203:1963-1986
44. Théry M, Casas J (2002) Predator and prey views of spider camouflage. Nature 415:133
45. Uchikawa K, Ikeda M (1981) Temporal deterioration of wavelength discrimination with successive comparison method. Vision Res 21:591-595
46. Vorobyev M, Menzel R (1999) Flower advertisement for insects: bees, a case study. In: Archer SN, Djamgoz MBA, Loew ER, Partridge JC, Vallerga S (eds) Adaptive mechanism in the ecology of vision. Kluwer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 537-553
47. Waser NM (1986) Flower constancy: definition, cause, and measurement. Am Nat 127:593-603
48. Werner A, Menzel R, Wehrhahn C (1988) Color constancy in the honeybee. J Neurosci 8:156-159
49. Worthey JA, Brill MH (1986) Heuristic analysis of von Kries color constancy. J Opt Soc Am A 3:1708-1712