Supplementary Material. Table S1 and Figure S1 presenting chromatic properties of the stimuli used in the experiments

Behavioural evidence of colour vision in free flying stingless bees
Spaethe J, Streinzer M, Eckert J, May S, Dyer AG
Journal of Comparative Physiology A

Corresponding author:

Adrian G Dyer

Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, VIC 3800, Australia

School of Media and Communication, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia

Phone + 61 3 9925 0361

email:

Table S1 – Receptor specific and chromatic contrasts of tested stimuli

The values were calculated using the colour hexagon model (Chittka 1992). For the calculation of the spectral sensitivity curves we used a template provided by Stavenga et al. (1993) considering the peak sensitivity values of the three photoreceptors of Trigona spinipes (Briscoe and Chittka 2001). The achromatic (grey) paper used in the respective experiment was used as adaptation background. For the green-receptor contrast the absolute values are given (Spaethe et al. 2001). Note that the stimuli names for the experiments with T. cf. fuscipennis performed in Costa Rica are given lower case letters, while the stimuli used in the experiments with T. carbonaria performed in Australia are given upper case letters.

Stimulus / Green contrast / Colour contrast / Brightness
Von Frisch experiment
HKS-33N / 0.27 / 0.169 / 0.88
HKS-21N / 0.12 / 0.100 / 1.07
HKS-3N / 0.06 / 0.423 / 0.83
HKS-43N / 0.22 / 0.250 / 0.86
g1 / 0.40 / 0.002 / 0.29
g2 / 0.34 / 0.008 / 0.48
g3 / 0.28 / 0.009 / 0.68
g4 / 0.24 / 0.013 / 0.79
g5 / 0.21 / 0.013 / 0.88
g6 / 0.18 / 0.014 / 0.97
g7 / 0.13 / 0.009 / 1.13
g8 / 0.07 / 0.007 / 1.31
g9 / 0.01 / 0.004 / 1.48
g10 / 0.03 / 0.003 / 1.60
g11 / 0.10 / 0.003 / 1.79
g12 / 0.12 / 0.001 / 1.86
Star experiment
(Trigona cf. fuscipennis)
b1 / 0.12 / 0.038 / 1.83
b2 / 0.09 / 0.082 / 1.74
b3 / 0.05 / 0.137 / 1.60
b4 / 0.02 / 0.174 / 1.51
b5 / 0.06 / 0.266 / 1.22
y1 / 0.13 / 0.041 / 1.82
y2 / 0.12 / 0.073 / 1.72
y3 / 0.13 / 0.110 / 1.68
y4 / 0.14 / 0.148 / 1.61
y5 / 0.14 / 0.214 / 1.51
y6 / 0.13 / 0.279 / 1.34
Star experiment
(Tetragonula carbonaria)
B8 / 0.07 / 0.059 / 1.41
B9 / 0.08 / 0.068 / 1.41
B10 / 0.08 / 0.077 / 1.42
B11 / 0.07 / 0.083 / 1.45
B12 / 0.08 / 0.090 / 1.43
B15 / 0.10 / 0.117 / 1.43
Y8 / 0.06 / 0.050 / 1.58
Y9 / 0.06 / 0.056 / 1.57
Y10 / 0.07 / 0.062 / 1.58
Y11 / 0.08 / 0.076 / 1.58
Y12 / 0.08 / 0.082 / 1.58
Y15 / 0.09 / 0.106 / 1.57

Figure S1

a Green receptor contrast, b chromatic contrast and c brightness for all stimuli used in the von Frisch-setup in an ascending order. The coloured stimuli were cut from HKS papers (yellow: HKS-3, pink: HKS-21, purple: HKS-33, blue: HKS-43). Grey cards were produced by printing different shades of grey onto a grey background (Canson Mi-Teintes 120; see Material & Methods). Bars are coloured according to the (human)-colour and brightness of the stimuli.

References

Briscoe AD, Chittka L (2001) The evolution of color vision in insects. Annu Rev Entomol 46:471-510. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.46.1.471

Chittka L (1992) The color hexagon - a chromaticity diagram based on photoreceptor excitations as a generalized representation of color opponency. J Comp Physiol A 170 (5):533-543

Spaethe J, Tautz J, Chittka L (2001) Visual constraints in foraging bumblebees: Flower size and color affect search time and flight behavior. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98 (7):3898-3903

Stavenga DG, Smits RP, Hoenders BJ (1993) Simple exponential functions describing the absorbance bands of visual pigment spectra. Vis Res 33(8):1011-1017.doi:10.1016/0042-6989(93)90237-q