Summary
The spectral absorption by single ommin containing pigment granules or clusters of granules from compound eyes was measured spectrophotometrically between 300 and 700 nm. The measurements were made on fresh and fixed slices from compound eyes of Celerio euphorbiae and Vespa spec. In the visible part of the spectrum there is an absorption maximum between 540 and 550 nm, situated nearly 30 nm more towards the red than that of pure ommin in solution. A frequently found side maximum of variable height at about 450 nm is probably caused by oxidized xanthommatin occurring additionally within the granules. The absorption increases from 350 nm towards shorter wavelengths, and gradually declines between 550 and 700 nm.
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This work was supported partly by the Swedish Medical Research Council, Stiftelsen Gustaf och Tyra Svenssons Minne, Reservationsanslaget, and partly by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research through the European Office of Aerospace Research, OAR, United States Air Force under grant number EOOAR-68-0036.
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Höglund, G., Langer, H., Struwe, G. et al. Spectral absorption by screening pigment granules in the compound eyes of a moth and a wasp. Z. vergl. Physiologie 67, 238–242 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00340951
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00340951