The phylogenetic significance of ommatidium structure in the compound eyes of polyphagan beetles

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (9) ◽  
pp. 1787-1819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Caveney
Keyword(s):  
Compound Eyes ◽  
Beetle Species ◽  
Phylogenetic Significance ◽  
Lens System ◽  
Crystalline Cone ◽  
Progressive Loss ◽  
Open Rhabdom ◽  
Scarab Beetles

The structure of ommatidia in adults of more than 200 beetle species from 91 polyphagan families was surveyed. Three basic types of lens system (eucone, exocone, and acone) and two types of retinal unit (fused rhabdom, open rhabdom) are represented. The eucone (crystalline cone-containing) ommatidium is ancestral and prevails in primitive Eucinetoidea, Hydrophiloidea, and Scarabaeoidea; ommatidia of the primitive beetles Cupes and Omma as well as the Adephaga are of this type. The polyphagan founders most likely had ommatidia with small crystalline cones and narrow clear zones beneath the corneal facets. Exocone and acone eyes are derived structures, and their distribution suggests that both have evolved several times. Exocone ommatidia arose early in polyphagan evolution, possibly first in dascilloid-like founders of elateriform and bostrychiform beetles, where the exocone is commonly found. An exocone eye also evolved separately in the ancestors of several primitive scarabaeoid families; possible steps in this eucone to exocone transition may be seen in the Trogidae. The clear zones of eucone and exocone eyes are not homologous. The acone ommatidium is specialized and arose through a progressive loss of either crystalline cone or exocone. In the advanced staphylinoid beetles it is a relic of crystalline cone loss in their small ancestors. In the cucujiforms it arose likely from the loss of the exocone in their bostrychiform ancestors, associated here with a shift to an open rhabdom. Although the distribution of ommatidial types coincides with major lineages in the Polyphaga, a few anomalies remain. The Eucnemidae, Buprestidae, and Dryopidae are all eucone yet are placed in the elateriform series, in which 25 of 30 families are exocone. Scarab beetles have an extraordinary variety of lens types that presumably reflects the exceptional adaptability of the eye in this superfamily.

scholarly journals High-speed imaging of light-induced photoreceptor microsaccades in compound eyes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joni Kemppainen ◽  
Neveen Mansour ◽  
Jouni Takalo ◽  
Mikko Juusola
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Retinal Images ◽  
Compound Eyes ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Active Sampling ◽  
High Speed Imaging ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Orientation Mapping ◽  
Open Rhabdom

Inside compound eyes, photoreceptors contract to light changes, sharpening retinal images of the moving world in time. Current methods to measure these so-called photoreceptor microsaccades in living insects are spatially limited and technically challenging. Here, we present goniometric high-speed deep pseudopupil (GHS-DPP) microscopy to assess how the rhabdomeric insect photoreceptors and their microsaccades are organised across the compound eyes. This method enables non-invasive rhabdomere orientation mapping, whilst their microsaccades can be locally light-activated, revealing the eyes' underlying active sampling motifs. By comparing the microsaccades in wild-type Drosophila's open rhabdom eyes4 to spam-mutant eyes, reverted to an ancestral fused rhabdom state, we show how two different eye types sample light information. These results show different ways how vision converts space into time, and highlight how compound eyes and their active sampling can evolve with insects' visual needs.

Some Unique Features in Compound Eyes of Two Isopods

1972 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 48-49
Author(s):  
Paula Nemanic
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Suture Line ◽  
Compound Eyes ◽  
Porcellio Scaber ◽  
Crystalline Cone ◽  
Trichoid Sensilla ◽  
Terrestrial Isopod ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Dioptric Apparatus

I have observed certain unique features in the ultrastructure of the compound eyes of the terrestrial isopod crustaceans Porcellio scaber and Armadillidium vulgare, using both scanning and transmission electron microscopy.Only about twenty ommatidia, arranged into four rows, constitute an eye, giving the organ the appearance of a cluster of grapes (Fig. 1). A few trichoid sensilla are interspersed between the ommatidia.The dioptric apparatus of each ommatidium is composed of a biconvex, cuticular lens and an underlying spherical crystalline cone. In these isopods each crystalline cone is the secretion of only two cells (Fig. 2), rather than four as in most malacostracans. The suture line between the two cone hemispheres is always parallel to the long axis of the ommatidium.

scholarly journals Insights into the 400 million-year-old eyes of giant sea scorpions (Eurypterida) suggest the structure of Palaeozoic compound eyes

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte Schoenemann ◽  
Markus Poschmann ◽  
Euan N. K. Clarkson
Keyword(s):  
Lower Devonian ◽  
Compound Eye ◽  
Scattered Light ◽  
Compound Eyes ◽  
Light Conditions ◽  
Lens System ◽  
Single Lens ◽  
Terrestrial Life ◽  
Horseshoe Crabs ◽  
Aquatic Predators

AbstractSea scorpions (Eurypterida, Chelicerata) of the Lower Devonian (~400 Mya) lived as large, aquatic predators. The structure of modern chelicerate eyes is very different from that of mandibulate compound eyes [Mandibulata: Crustacea and Tracheata (Hexapoda, such as insects, and Myriapoda)]. Here we show that the visual system of Lower Devonian (~400 Mya) eurypterids closely matches that of xiphosurans (Xiphosura, Chelicerata). Modern representatives of this group, the horseshoe crabs (Limulidae), have cuticular lens cylinders and usually also an eccentric cell in their sensory apparatus. This strongly suggests that the xiphosuran/eurypterid compound eye is a plesiomorphic structure with respect to the Chelicerata, and probably ancestral to that of Euchelicerata, including Eurypterida, Arachnida and Xiphosura. This is supported by the fact that some Palaeozoic scorpions also possessed compound eyes similar to those of eurypterids. Accordingly, edge enhancement (lateral inhibition), organised by the eccentric cell, most useful in scattered light-conditions, may be a very old mechanism, while the single-lens system of arachnids is possibly an adaptation to a terrestrial life-style.

Interpretation of irradiation-induced changes in electron diffractograms and images of extinction contours at low temperatures

1984 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 268-269
Author(s):  
E. Knapek ◽  
H. Formanek ◽  
G. Lefranc ◽  
I. Dietrich
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperatures ◽  
Carbon Films ◽  
Organic Crystals ◽  
Wide Spread ◽  
Lens System ◽  
Preparation Conditions ◽  
Thin Carbon ◽  
Electron Diffractograms ◽  
Diffraction Patterns ◽  
Induced Changes

A few years ago results on cryoprotection of L-valine were reported, where the values of the critical fluence De i.e, the electron exposure which decreases the intensity of the diffraction reflections by a factor e, amounted to the order of 2000 + 1000 e/nm2. In the meantime a discrepancy arose, since several groups published De values between 100 e/nm2 and 1200 e/nm2 /1 - 4/. This disagreement and particularly the wide spread of the results induced us to investigate more thoroughly the behaviour of organic crystals at very low temperatures during electron irradiation.For this purpose large L-valine crystals with homogenuous thickness were deposited on holey carbon films, thin carbon films or Au-coated holey carbon films. These specimens were cooled down to nearly liquid helium temperature in an electron microscope with a superconducting lens system and irradiated with 200 keU-electrons. The progress of radiation damage under different preparation conditions has been observed with series of electron diffraction patterns and direct images of extinction contours.

Resolution in photoelectron microscopy

1991 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 458-459
Author(s):  
G. F. Rempfer
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Ultraviolet Light ◽  
Uniform Field ◽  
Virtual Image ◽  
Lens System ◽  
Photoemission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Planar Electrode ◽  
Electron Lens ◽  
Photoemission Electron

In photoelectron microscopy (PEM), also called photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM), the image is formed by electrons which have been liberated from the specimen by ultraviolet light. The electrons are accelerated by an electric field before being imaged by an electron lens system. The specimen is supported on a planar electrode (or the electrode itself may be the specimen), and the accelerating field is applied between the specimen, which serves as the cathode, and an anode. The accelerating field is essentially uniform except for microfields near the surface of the specimen and a diverging field near the anode aperture. The uniform field forms a virtual image of the specimen (virtual specimen) at unit lateral magnification, approximately twice as far from the anode as is the specimen. The diverging field at the anode aperture in turn forms a virtual image of the virtual specimen at magnification 2/3, at a distance from the anode of 4/3 the specimen distance. This demagnified virtual image is the object for the objective stage of the lens system.

Ultrastructural investigation of an adenoma of the pituitary post mortem

1987 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 622-623
Author(s):  
Shirley Siew ◽  
W. C. deMendonca
Keyword(s):  
Deleterious Effect ◽  
Anterior Lobe ◽  
Definitive Diagnosis ◽  
Pars Intermedia ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Close Apposition ◽  
Autopsy Material ◽  
Progressive Loss ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Means Of Transmission

The deleterious effect of post mortem degeneration results in a progressive loss of ultrastructural detail. This had led to reluctance (if not refusal) to examine autopsy material by means of transmission electron microscopy. Nevertheless, Johannesen has drawn attention to the fact that a sufficient amount of significant features may be preserved in order to enable the establishment of a definitive diagnosis, even on “graveyard” tissue.Routine histopathology of the autopsy organs of a woman of 78 showed the presence of a well circumscribed adenoma in the anterior lobe of the pituitary. The lesion came into close apposition to the pars intermedia. Its architecture was more compact and less vascular than that of the anterior lobe. However, there was some grouping of the cells in relation to blood vessels. The cells tended to be smaller, with a higher nucleocytoplasmic ratio. The cytoplasm showed a paucity of granules. In some of the cells, it was eosinophilic.

Slow-Scan CCD Observation of Backscattering Patterns in SEM

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 1308-1309
Author(s):  
F. Ouyang ◽  
D. A. Ray ◽  
O. L. Krivanek
Keyword(s):  
Electron Beam ◽  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscope ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Lens System ◽  
Wide Dynamic Range ◽  
Peltier Cooler ◽  
Diffraction Patterns ◽  
Scanning Electron

Electron backscattering Kikuchi diffraction patterns (BKDP) reveal useful information about the structure and orientation of crystals under study. With the well focused electron beam in a scanning electron microscope (SEM), one can use BKDP as a microanalysis tool. BKDPs have been recorded in SEMs using a phosphor screen coupled to an intensified TV camera through a lens system, and by photographic negatives. With the development of fiber-optically coupled slow scan CCD (SSC) cameras for electron beam imaging, one can take advantage of their high sensitivity and wide dynamic range for observing BKDP in SEM.We have used the Gatan 690 SSC camera to observe backscattering patterns in a JEOL JSM-840A SEM. The CCD sensor has an active area of 13.25 mm × 8.83 mm and 576 × 384 pixels. The camera head, which consists of a single crystal YAG scintillator fiber optically coupled to the CCD chip, is located inside the SEM specimen chamber. The whole camera head is cooled to about -30°C by a Peltier cooler, which permits long integration times (up to 100 seconds).

Differentiation Processes of the Ocellar Retina of the Honeybee (Apis Mellifera L.)

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 430-431
Author(s):  
Maria Anna Pabst
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Distal Part ◽  
Cell Layer ◽  
Single Layer ◽  
Photoreceptor Cells ◽  
Distal Segment ◽  
Compound Eyes ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Ultrastructural Studies ◽  
Adult Worker

In addition to the compound eyes, honeybees have three dorsal ocelli on the vertex of the head. Each ocellus has about 800 elongated photoreceptor cells. They are paired and the distal segment of each pair bears densely packed microvilli forming together a platelike fused rhabdom. Beneath a common cuticular lens a single layer of corneagenous cells is present.Ultrastructural studies were made of the retina of praepupae, different pupal stages and adult worker bees by thin sections and freeze-etch preparations. In praepupae the ocellar anlage consists of a conical group of epidermal cells that differentiate to photoreceptor cells, glial cells and corneagenous cells. Some photoreceptor cells are already paired and show disarrayed microvilli with circularly ordered filaments inside. In ocelli of 2-day-old pupae, when a retinogenous and a lentinogenous cell layer can be clearly distinguished, cell membranes of the distal part of two photoreceptor cells begin to interdigitate with each other and so start to form the definitive microvilli. At the beginning the microvilli often occupy the whole width of the developing rhabdom (Fig. 1).

Comparison of freeze-fractured yeast replicas using conventional TEM and low-voltage field-emission SEM

1989 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 74-75
Author(s):  
William P. Wergin ◽  
Eric F. Erbe ◽  
Terrence W. Reilly
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscope ◽  
Field Emission ◽  
Low Voltage ◽  
Objective Lens ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Lens System ◽  
Air Drying ◽  
Preparation Techniques ◽  
Scanning Electron

Although the first commercial scanning electron microscope (SEM) was introduced in 1965, the limited resolution and the lack of preparation techniques initially confined biological observations to relatively low magnification images showing anatomical surface features of samples that withstood the artifacts associated with air drying. As the design of instrumentation improved and the techniques for specimen preparation developed, the SEM allowed biologists to gain additional insights not only on the external features of samples but on the internal structure of tissues as well. By 1985, the resolution of the conventional SEM had reached 3 - 5 nm; however most biological samples still required a conductive coating of 20 - 30 nm that prevented investigators from approaching the level of information that was available with various TEM techniques. Recently, a new SEM design combined a condenser-objective lens system with a field emission electron source.

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