Summary
We have found four classes of neurons in the honeybee optic lobe. These neurons respond to changes in light intensity and selectively to movement of objects within the entire acceptance angle of a compound eye. We suggest that these neurons are part of the neural system that controls flight, for example the optomotor response. Properties of these units are described in this paper. To our knowledge this is the first report of recording from interneurons of the honeybee.
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We thank Mrs. B. Hsei and Mrs. D. Hodgetts for technical assistance. Bees to establish the wild-type colony were given by Dr. P. Wells, Occidental College; bees to establish the white-eyed mutant colony were given by Dr. H. Laidlaw, University of California at Davis, California.
This research was supported by National Institutes of Health, U.S.P.H.S. Grant NB03627 to Dr. G. D. McCann (CIT), and A.F.O.S.R. Grant 70-1869 to LGB.
One of us (WK) is indebted to the Commitee on International Exchange of Persons, Washington D.C., for making available a Fulbright Travel Grant. WK also thanks Dr. G. D. McCann for the invitation to the California Institute of Technology.
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Kaiser, W., Bishop, L.G. Directionally selective motion detecting units in the optic lobe of the honeybee. Z. Vergl. Physiol. 67, 403–413 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00297908
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00297908