Summary
Intracellular recording and staining techniques revealed new aspects of the anatomy and physiology of ocellarl-neurons in the honeybee (Apis mellifera).
Structural comparisons of homologous identifiedl-neurons showed that their axon pathways and projection areas in the brain were similar, whereas somata location and terminal branching patterns differed.
l-neuron responses to light ranged from graded reponses with fast on- and off-transients to inhibition of spontaneous discharge. Since the same morphological type ofl-neuron responded differently in different animals, response types could not be correlated systematically with morphology. However, purely graded responses were not found in extrinsicl d -neurons, and lateral ocellar L-neurons never exhibited an inhibition of the tonic spike discharge without a graded component.
l-neuron graded responses could be elicited only by light stimulation of the ocelli, but not by moving striped patterns, polarised white light, light stimuli to the compound eyes, airpuffs, or odor stimuli.
Various parameters of the graded response code light intensity differently. Response/intensity functions rise over an intensity range of 5 log units to saturate at higher intensities. The spectral sensitivity has two peaks close to 340 nm and 500 nm.
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Milde, J.J. Ocellar interneurons in the honeybee. J. Comp. Physiol. 154, 683–693 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01350222
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01350222