Abstract:
Ancestors of all extant invertebrates having color vision have lost during evolution some visual pigments. Arthropod rhabdomeric photoreceptors are inherently polarization sensitive. Other arthropods, such as bees, supress polarization sensitivity of photoreceptors used for color by reorienting microvilli in their rhabdoms.While it is unlikely that insect color vision has been evolutionary adjusted to flower colors, color vision of some butterflies probably coevolved with color of butterfly wings.