scholarly journals Taubenschwänzchen, ein neuerdings häufiger Gast in unseren Gärten

2007 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-25
Author(s):  
Hilke Steinecke ◽  
Petra Wester
Keyword(s):  
Macroglossum Stellatarum

Im warmen Sommer 2006 war das Taubenschwänzchen (Macroglossum stellatarum) häufig an verschiedenen Blüten zu beobachten. Es erinnert an einen Kolibri. Es wird ein Bild von einem Taubenschwänzchen, das an einer Folterpflanze (Araujia sericifera) gefangen war, gezeigt. Die Biologie des Taubenschwänzchens wird vorgestellt.

Physiological optics in the hummingbird hawkmoth: a compound eye without ommatidia

1999 ◽  
Vol 202 (5) ◽  
pp. 497-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Warrant ◽  
K. Bartsch ◽  
C. Günther
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Compound Eye ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Diffraction Limit ◽  
Physiological Optics ◽  
Macroglossum Stellatarum ◽  
Superposition Eye ◽  
Eye Region

The fast-flying day-active hawkmoth Macroglossum stellatarum (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) has a remarkable refracting superposition eye that departs radically from the classical principles of Exnerian superposition optics. Unlike its classical counterparts, this superposition eye is highly aspherical and contains extensive gradients of resolution and sensitivity. While such features are well known in apposition eyes, they were thought to be impossible in superposition eyes because of the imaging principle inherent in this design. We provide the first account of a superposition eye where these gradients are not only possible, but also produce superposition eyes of unsurpassed quality. Using goniometry and ophthalmoscopy, we find that superposition images formed in the eye are close to the diffraction limit. Moreover, the photoreceptors of the superposition eyes of M. stellatarum are organised to form local acute zones, one of which is frontal and slightly ventral, and another of which provides improved resolution along the equator of the eye. This angular packing of rhabdoms bears no resemblance to the angular packing of the overlying corneal facets. In fact, this eye has many more rhabdoms than facets, with up to four rhabdoms per facet in the frontal eye, a situation which means that M. stellatarum does not possess ommatidia in the accepted sense. The size of the facets and the area of the superposition aperture are both maximal at the frontal retinal acute zone. By having larger facets, a wider aperture and denser rhabdom packing, the frontal acute zone of M. stellatarum provides the eye with its sharpest and brightest image and samples the image with the densest photoreceptor matrix. It is this eye region that M. stellatarum uses to fixate flower entrances during hovering and feeding. This radical departure from classical Exnerian principles has resulted in a superposition eye which has not only high sensitivity but also outstanding spatial resolution.

Oenothera speciosa versus Macroglossum stellatarum: killing beauty

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boyan Zlatkov ◽  
Stoyan Beshkov ◽  
Tsveta Ganeva
Keyword(s):  
Macroglossum Stellatarum

scholarly journals The roles of vision and antennal mechanoreception in hawkmoth flight control

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajinkya Dahake ◽  
Anna L Stöckl ◽  
James J Foster ◽  
Sanjay P Sane ◽  
Almut Kelber
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Flight Control ◽  
Sensory Feedback ◽  
Body Position ◽  
Temporal Frequency ◽  
Macroglossum Stellatarum ◽  
Position And Orientation ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Compensatory Interactions

Flying animals need continual sensory feedback about their body position and orientation for flight control. The visual system provides essential but slow feedback. In contrast, mechanosensory channels can provide feedback at much shorter timescales. How the contributions from these two senses are integrated remains an open question in most insect groups. In Diptera, fast mechanosensory feedback is provided by organs called halteres and is crucial for the control of rapid flight manoeuvres, while vision controls manoeuvres in lower temporal frequency bands. Here, we have investigated the visual-mechanosensory integration in the hawkmoth Macroglossum stellatarum. They represent a large group of insects that use Johnston’s organs in their antennae to provide mechanosensory feedback on perturbations in body position. Our experiments show that antennal mechanosensory feedback specifically mediates fast flight manoeuvres, but not slow ones. Moreover, we did not observe compensatory interactions between antennal and visual feedback.

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