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First published online August 23, 2004
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 3307-3316 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01158

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Colour constancy in diurnal and nocturnal hawkmoths

Anna Balkenius^* and Almut Kelber

Department of Cell and Organism Biology, Lund University, Helgonavägen 3, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden

View larger version (16K): [in a new window]   Fig. 1. (A) The spectrum of the white cage illumination without filters. (B) The transmission of Schott filters FG-3 (blue) and FG-13 (yellow). (C) Reflectance of colours used in the first multiple-choice experiment with D. elpenor (experiment 1). Blue (b), blue-green (bg), green (g), violet (v) and blue-violet (bv). (D) Reflectance of colours used in the second multiple-choice experiment (experiment 2). Yellow (y), yellow-orange (yo), orange (o), dark green (dg) and light green (lg). (E) Reflectance of green, turquoise and lime used in the dual-choice experiments with D. elpenor and M. stellatarum (experiments 3-5). (F) The sensitivity curves of the ultra-violet (UV), blue (B) and green (G) receptors of Deilephila elpenor. The curves were calculated from the recorded sensitivity maxima (Höglund et al., 1973) using the Stavenga-Smits-Hoenders rhodopsin template (Stavenga et al., 1993) and normalised in such a way that the integrals equal 1.

View larger version (15K): [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Maxwell's triangle of D. elpenor. The corners of the triangle represent colours that excite only one of the three receptor types (UV, B, G). Loci within the triangle represent colours exciting all three receptor types. The line with wavelengths represents monochromatic colours in the colour space of the hawkmoths. For calculation of colour loci, see text. Diamonds, colour loci under white illumination; open circles, loci under yellow illumination; triangles, colour loci under blue illumination. (A) The loci of the colours used in experiments 1 and 2. The lines connect the same colour loci under the different illuminations. In experiment 1, the loci are very close and do not change much between the white and blue illumination. (B) The turquoise (T), green (G) and lime (L) colours were used in dual-choice tests under white (Tw, Gw, Lw; filled diamonds) and yellow (Ty, Gy, Ly; open circles) illuminations. y marks the locus of the yellow illumination.

View larger version (20K): [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Relative quantum catches for the three receptor types for the turquoise and green colour under white and yellow illumination, (A) without von Kries coefficient law and (B) with von Kries coefficient law (the colours indicate the corresponding receptor types).

View larger version (20K): [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Choices made by eight D. elpenor in experiment 1, under white illumination (N=201) and blue illumination (N=138). The colour surrounded by a white circle is the training colour. b, blue; bv, blue-violet; v, violet; bg, blue-green; g, green.

View larger version (24K): [in a new window]   Fig. 5. Choices made by 10 D. elpenor in experiment 2, under white (N=263), blue (N=189) and yellow (N=69) illumination. The colour surrounded with a white circle is the training colour. y, yellow; o, orange; yo, yellow-orange; dg, dark green; lg, light green.

View larger version (13K): [in a new window]   Fig. 6. Dual-choice experiment on D. elpenor (experiment 3). (A) Turquoise used as rewarded colour patch (surrounded by a white circle). Choices made by 10 D. elpenor for the different colour patches under white (N=376) and yellow (N=173) illumination. (B) Green used as rewarded colour (surrounded by a white circle). Choices made by 10 D. elpenor, under white (N=137) and yellow (N=55) illumination.

View larger version (14K): [in a new window]   Fig. 7. Dual-choice experiments on M. stellatarum (experiment 4). (A) Turquoise was used as rewarded colour (surrounded by a white circle). Choices made by M. stellatarum under white (N=274) and yellow (N=183) illumination. (B) Green used as rewarded colour (surrounded by a white circle). Choices made by 10 M. stellatarum for the different colour patches under white (N=221) and yellow (N=209) illumination.

View larger version (14K): [in a new window]   Fig. 8. `Relative colour learning' with M. stellatarum (experiment 5). (A) Six moths were trained to green as the rewarded colour (surrounded by a white circle) and lime and tested with green and turquoise (N=268). (B) Six moths were trained to green and turquoise using green as the rewarded colour, and tested with green and lime, under white illuminations (N=243). Colour constancy was tested under yellow illumination (N=35).

View larger version (12K): [in a new window]   Fig. 9. Total numbers of choices made by four M. stellatarum during eight subsequent days. Turquoise was the rewarded colour. Black line: white training illumination. Yellow line: yellow illumination. See text for explanations.