Meeting Abstract

4.3  Thursday, Jan. 3  Visual Target Detection in Damselflies SCHROEDER, R.*; BUTLER, M.A.; University of Hawaii, Honolulu; University of Hawaii, Honolulu rolandsc@hawaii.edu

How insects are able to detect targets of interest remains a critical question. Their visual system consists of relatively small compound eyes with no focusing mechanism, limited stereoscopic vision, and low resolution. However, they are still able to catch prey in flight, even while living in visually cluttered environments. We investigated the natural light environment and visual response behavior of Megalagrion damselflies in the field. We found that even in dark habitats, there is heterogeneity in light composition and that damselflies perch to optimally sample the variety of light patches available. Our behavioral studies with artificial stimuli (beads) confirmed that Megalagrion xanthomelas orients visually. We are conducting experiments to study behavioral responses to bead color, size, and distance, with the aim of identifying the important parameters for damselfly vision. The combination of field-based behavioral studies and characterization of light habitats will provide insight on adaptation of the visual system to a specific light habitat, forest understory.