The compound eye of insects
Date
1977-07
Authors
Horridge, George Adrian
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group -
Abstract
Insects are legion; some are active
only in bright sunlight. some in both
sunlight and shade. some only at
twilight. Some, such as the common
housefly, travel at high speed and make
rapid turns. Others, such as the dragonfly, alternately fly straight, maneuver
and hover. Still others, such as the praying mantis, remain motionless for hours
at a time. All these insects rely for their
survival on vision. and all of them perceive the world through many-faceted
compound eyes, yet their habits and
their visual requirements are quite different. How does the compound eye
work as an optical sampling device? To
what extent does it reveal the functions
for which the insect uses its eyes? To
what extent does the smallness of the
facets of the insect eye limit its sensitivity? What is the barrier to the insect eye's
working at low light intensities with the
small lenses of the facets? How do the compound eyes of insects arrive at a
compromise between optical resolution
and the sensitivity needed to overcome
optical noise?
Description
Keywords
insects, compound eye, vision, light intensites, facets, survival, function, sensitivity, optical noise
Citation
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Source
Scientific American
Type
Journal article
Book Title
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DOI
Restricted until
2037-12-31
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