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Journal of Electron Microscopy Advance Access published online on January 4, 2007
Journal of Electron Microscopy, doi:10.1093/jmicro/dfl035
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Microscopy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received September 27, 2006
Accepted November 21, 2006

Full-Length: Biological

Eye ultrastructure in the pollen-feeding beetle, Xanthochroa luteipennis (Coleoptera: Cucujiformia: Oedemeridae)

Monalisa Mishra 1 and Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow 2 *

1 International University Bremen (from February 2007 ‘Jacobs University’), School of Engineering and Science, Research II, Campus Ring 6; D-28759 Bremen, Germany
2 International University Bremen (from February 2007 ‘Jacobs University’), School of Engineering and Science, Research II, Campus Ring 6; D-28759 Bremen, Germany; University of Oulu, Department of Biology (Zoological Museum), POBox 3000, SF-90014 OULU, Finland

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow, E-mail: b.meyer-rochow{at}iu-bremen.de


  Abstract

The pollen-consuming beetle Xanthochroa luteipennis, which belongs to the family Oedemeridae, possesses a nearly spherical eye of ~400 µm in diameter. The eye contains 750-800, mostly hexagonal ommatidia, which are of the acone apposition type and have an open rhabdom. A well-developed pupil mechanism controls the light flux to the rhabdom. The pupil is formed with the help of screening pigment translocations, involving primary and secondary (accessory) pigment cells. Cross-sections of rhabdoms reveal that they are developed as ring-like structures, made up of the rhabdomeres of six retinula cells, surrounding a rod-like inner column of two fused rhabdomeres. Rhabdoms of ommatidia in the middle of the eye differ somewhat from those in more peripheral areas. In the former the central rhabdom is circular in cross-section, while in the latter it is spindle-shaped. The rhabdom organization in combination with the distal pupil mechanism is seen as an adaptation to maximize photon capture under a variety of ambient light intensities, for Oedemerid beetles are commonly active during the day as well as the night.

Keywords: compound eye; vision; retina; pupil mechanism; open rhabdom; blister beetles.
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