Butterfl-eyes: The evolution and function of insect vision (Ep 69)

<p>What does the world look like through insect eyes? What biological mechanisms make their vision different from our own? And how might those differences influence their evolution?</p> <p>On this episode, we talk with UC Irvine evolutionary biologist <a href="https://visiongene.bio.uci.edu/Adriana_Briscoe/Home.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Adriana Briscoe</a>&nbsp;(<a href="https://twitter.com/AdrianaBriscoe">@AdrianaBriscoe</a>) about color vision in insects, particularly&nbsp;<em>Heliconius</em>&nbsp;butterflies.&nbsp;We discuss how their perception of the world has led to such massive diversification and how variation in the structure of the light-sensitive opsin proteins that detect light enable species to perceive the world differently. We also discuss how visual perception differences&nbsp;<em>within</em>&nbsp;species might shape behaviors such as pollination, and what ecological factors could drive visual system evolution across the tree of life.</p> <p>Cover photo: Keating Shahmehri</p> --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bigbiology/message