ArticleJournal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology2014
Out of the blue: the spectral sensitivity of hummingbird hawkmoths.
Article in Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Spectral sensitivity and color discrimination of Euxesta eluta and Chaetopsis massyla (Diptera: Ulidiidae).PloS one · 2026Article
- Parallel evolution of opsin visual pigments in hawkmoths by tuning of spectral sensitivities during transition from a nocturnal to a diurnal ecology.The Journal of experimental biology · 2022Article
- Mechanisms of spectral orientation in a diurnal dung beetle.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Molecular advances to study the function, evolution and spectral tuning of arthropod visual opsins.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Review
- Automated methods for efficient and accurate electroretinography.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2021Article
- Article
- Flower Diversification Across "Pollinator Climates": Sensory Aspects of Corolla Color Evolution in the Florally Diverse South American GenusFrontiers in plant science · 2020Article
- Fuelling on the wing: sensory ecology of hawkmoth foraging.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2019Review
- Functional significance of the optical properties of flowers for visual signalling.Annals of botany · 2019Review
- The eyes and vision of butterflies.The Journal of physiology · 2017Review
- Red-shift of spectral sensitivity due to screening pigment migration in the eyes of a moth,Zoological letters · 2017Article
- Innate colour preferences of the Australian native stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria Sm.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2016Article
- Pollinators show flower colour preferences but flowers with similar colours do not attract similar pollinators.Annals of botany · 2016Article
- Differential investment in visual and olfactory brain areas reflects behavioural choices in hawk moths.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- Determination of Photoreceptor Cell Spectral Sensitivity in an Insect Model from In Vivo Intracellular Recordings.Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE · 2016Article
- Article
- Differentiating Biological Colours with Few and Many Sensors: Spectral Reconstruction with RGB and Hyperspectral Cameras.PloS one · 2015Article
- A hundred years of color studies in insects: with thanks to Karl von Frisch and the workers he inspired.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The European hummingbird hawkmoth Macroglossum stellatarum is a diurnal nectar forager like the honeybee, and we expect similarities in their sensory ecology. Using behavioural tests and electroretinograms (ERGs), we studied the spectral sensitivity of M. stellatarum. By measuring ERGs in the dark-adapted eye and after adaptation to green light, we determined that M. stellatarum has ultraviolet (UV), blue and green receptors maximally sensitive at 349, 440 and 521 nm, and confirmed that green receptors are most frequent in the retina. To determine the behavioural spectral sensitivity (action spectrum) of foraging moths, we trained animals to associate a disk illuminated with spectral light, with a food reward, and a dark disk with no reward. While the spectral positions of sensitivity maxima found in behavioural tests agree with model predictions based on the ERG data, the sensitivity to blue light was 30 times higher than expected. This is different from the honeybee but similar to earlier findings in the crepuscular hawkmoth Manduca sexta. It may indicate that the action spectrum of foraging hawkmoths does not represent their general sensory capacity. We suggest that the elevated sensitivity to blue light is related to the innate preference of hawkmoths for blue flowers.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.