Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 31, 2026
08:34
A Simple Behavioral Assay for Testing Visual Function in Xenopus laevis
Published on: June 12, 2014
10.3K
The butterfly Papilio xuthus detects visual motion using chromatic contrast
Finlay J Stewart1, Michiyo Kinoshita2, Kentaro Arikawa2
1Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, School of Advanced Sciences, Sokendai (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Shonan Village, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan stewart@soken.ac.jp.
Biology Letters
|October 23, 2015
Summary
Butterflies like Papilio xuthus can detect motion using color contrast, not just brightness. This suggests separate visual channels process different light contrasts for motion detection.
Area of Science:
- * Insect vision
- * Neuroethology
- * Sensory processing
Background:
- * Many insects rely on achromatic (brightness-based) motion vision.
- * The butterfly Papilio xuthus has a complex retinal structure.
- * Understanding insect motion vision provides insights into general visual processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- * To determine if Papilio xuthus uses chromatic contrast for motion detection.
- * To investigate the interaction between color, contrast polarity, and motion sensitivity.
- * To propose a model for motion detection in the butterfly's visual system.
Main Methods:
- * Measuring head movements of restrained Papilio xuthus.
- * Presenting moving two-colour patterns with varying relative intensities.
- * Analyzing responses to assess motion detection capabilities.
Main Results:
- * Motion detection was possible using chromatic contrast, even without luminance contrast.
- * Responses persisted across a range of relative colour intensities.
- * An interaction between colour and contrast polarity was observed, indicating distinct ON/OFF processing channels with different spectral sensitivities.
Conclusions:
- * Papilio xuthus motion vision is not solely achromatic.
- * Chromatic contrast plays a role in motion detection in this species.
- * The findings support a model of motion detection involving spectrally distinct channels in the retina/lamina.
Related Concept Videos
01:24Color Vision
1.9K
Color perception begins in the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye. Two main theories explain how colors are seen: the trichromatic theory and the opponent-process theory. The trichromatic theory, proposed by Thomas Young in 1802 and extended by Hermann von Helmholtz in 1852, suggests that color vision is based on three types of cone receptors in the retina. These cones are sensitive to different but overlapping ranges of wavelengths corresponding to red, blue, and green.
1.9K
01:05Difference from Background: Limit of Detection
9.1K
The limit of detection (LOD) is the smallest amount of analyte that can be distinguished from the background noise. The LOD value corresponds to the concentration at which the analyte signal is three times larger than the standard deviation of the blank signal. Below this value, the analyte signal cannot be differentiated from the background noise. It is calculated by dividing the calibration slope by 3 times the standard deviation of the blank signals.
The LOD indicates the presence or absence...
The LOD indicates the presence or absence...
9.1K
01:22Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
11.0K
At the molecular level, visual signals trigger transformations in photopigment molecules, resulting in changes in the photoreceptor cell's membrane potential. The photon's energy level is denoted by its wavelength, with each specific wavelength of visible light associated with a distinct color. The spectral range of visible light, classified as electromagnetic radiation, spans from 380 to 720 nm. Electromagnetic radiation wavelengths exceeding 720 nm fall under the infrared category,...
11.0K
01:26Phase Contrast and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy
15.2K
Phase-Contrast Microscopes
In-phase-contrast microscopes, interference between light directly passing through a cell and light refracted by cellular components is used to create high-contrast, high-resolution images without staining. It is the oldest and simplest type of microscope that creates an image by altering the wavelengths of light rays passing through the specimen. Altered wavelength paths are created using an annular stop in the condenser. The annular stop produces a hollow cone of...
In-phase-contrast microscopes, interference between light directly passing through a cell and light refracted by cellular components is used to create high-contrast, high-resolution images without staining. It is the oldest and simplest type of microscope that creates an image by altering the wavelengths of light rays passing through the specimen. Altered wavelength paths are created using an annular stop in the condenser. The annular stop produces a hollow cone of...
15.2K
01:11Channel Rhodopsins
3.4K
Most organisms use photoreceptors to sense and respond to light. Examples of photoreceptors include bacteriorhodopsins and bacteriophytochromes in some bacteria, phytochromes in plants, and rhodopsins in the photoreceptor cells of the vertebral retina. The light-sensitive property of these receptors is because of the bound chromophores, such as bilin in the phytochromes and retinal in the rhodopsins.
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
3.4K
01:24Vision
61.5K
Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.
61.5K