TETRACHROMATIC VISUAL-SYSTEM IN THE MOTH SPODOPTERA-EXEMPTA (INSECTA, NOCTUIDAE) - PRELIMINARY NOTE

The retina in the compound eye of the African army-worm moth, Spodoptera exempta, contains four different visual pigments (Fig. 4). Their existence was demonstrated by microspectrophotometry and by electrophysiological experiments, using selective colour adaptations. The pigments were localized in different receptor cells of the ommatidia (Fig. 6) by a special electron microscopic technique (Fig. 5). One of the pigments, a rhodopsin with the absorption maximum at about 560 nm, causes this eye's distinct red sensitivity up to more than 700 nm, found electrophysiologically. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.