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A study of the role of vision in the foraging behaviour of the pyrrhocorid bug Antilochus conquebertii (Insecta; Hemiptera; Pyrrhocoridae)

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Invertebrate Neuroscience

Abstract

Our study aims to describe (1) external morphology of the compound eye of Antilochus conquebertii, (2) postembryonic changes involving the eye’s shape and size and (3) behaviour of the animal with respect to the organization of the compound eye. With each moult of the insect, the structural units of the compound eye increase in size as well as the number, resulting in an overall increase in eye size. The resolution of the adult eye is better than the young one. The adult possesses UV and polarization sensitivity in its eye. Parallel to the changes of the eye the behaviour of the adult animal changes, rendering it increasingly nocturnal and less active in under illuminated conditions. The current study describes the eye and its functional relationship with the behaviour of the animal at the nymphal and adult developmental stage.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the technician of the scanning electron microscopy facility of National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, for handling the electron microscope. Shaunak, Sayantan and Tryanti are acknowledged for their help in catching the insects and helping Ishita while doing the behavioural analysis. Dr. Harekrushna Sahoo is thankfully acknowledged for the statistical analysis and Dr. Binod Bihari Sahu is thankfully acknowledged for identifying the scientific names of the flowers used in this study. Anonymous reviewers are thankfully acknowledged for their valuable comments which help to improve the manuscript.

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  1. Neural Developmental Biology Lab, Department of Life Science, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Rourkela, Odisha, 769008, India

    Monalisa Mishra & Srirupa Basu

  2. Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata, India

    Ishita Chakraborty

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  1. Monalisa Mishra
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  2. Ishita Chakraborty
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Correspondence to Monalisa Mishra.

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Mishra, M., Chakraborty, I. & Basu, S. A study of the role of vision in the foraging behaviour of the pyrrhocorid bug Antilochus conquebertii (Insecta; Hemiptera; Pyrrhocoridae). Invert Neurosci 19, 2 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10158-018-0222-6

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