Multi-coloured jumping spiders are colour blind!
Beautiful to look at as they don bright hues, the jumping spiders make a pretty sight yet there is one among them that despite being vividly colourful is unable to see and appreciate colour, according to an article in sciencedaiy.com
It was Nathan Morehouse, who along with the Cynthia Tedore-led international team of researchers found this jumping spider.
While Morehouse is an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati, Tedore is research associate from the University of Hamburg.
Examining the common jumping spider or Saitis barbipes which is found in Europe and North Africa Morehouse found that the males of the species have a furry red crown and legs. This seemed to be an addition to their complex courtship dances that they performed to romance females.
David Outomuro the first co-author of the study observed: "We assumed they were using colour for communication. But we didn't know if their visual system even allowed them to see those colours.”
Outomuro is a UC postdoctoral researcher now at the University of Pittsburgh who co-authored the study with Mateusz Glenszczyk, a University of Hamburg researcher. The journal The Science of Nature published the study.
Spiders were collected in Slovenia by the researchers to be studied in a lab in Germany. With the aim to identify photoreceptors that are sensitive to colours or varied light wavelengths, the specimens were studied using microspectrophotometry at UC. The scientists were in for a surprise as contrary to their expectation, they were unable to find any red photoreceptor. They also scrutinised for coloured filters in the eye that shift green sensitivity to red, but found none.
Comments
Post a Comment