Patterns of chromatic information processing in the lobula of the honeybee, Apis mellifera L.

The honeybee, Apis mellifera L., is one of the living creatures that has its colour vision proven through behavioural tests. Previous studies of honeybee colour vision has emphasized the relationship between the spectral sensitivities of photoreceptors and colour discrimination behaviour. The current understanding of the neural mechanisms of bee colour vision is, however, rather limited. The present study surveyed the patterns of chromatic information processing of visual neurons in the lobula of the honeybee, using intracellular recording stimulated by three light-emitting diodes, whose emission spectra approximately match the spectral sensitivity peaks of the honeybee. The recorded visual neurons can be divided into two groups: non-colour opponent cells and colour opponent cells. The non-colour opponent cells comprise six types of broad-band neurons and four response types of narrow-band neurons. The former might detect brightness of the environment or function as chromatic input channels, and the latter might supply specific chromatic input. Amongst the colour opponent cells, the principal neural mechanism of colour vision, eight response types were recorded. The receptive fields of these neurons were not centre surround as observed in primates. Some recorded neurons with tonic post-stimulus responses were observed, however, suggesting temporal defined spectral opponency may be part of the colour-coding mechanisms.