How does the bull ant (Myrmecia croslandi) see?
The bull ant (Myrmecia croslandi) is a insect in the order Hymenoptera. Its eyes belong to the vision type Bee, ant and locust UV trichromat.
Measured in this species: colour and motion (flicker fusion). Measured colour or sharpness: a measured receptor set or acuity in this species; other dials come from relatives or group defaults. Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.
See your photo as the bull ant (Myrmecia croslandi)This species is part of the full catalogue in the tool (full unlock). Your photo stays on your device.
What stands out
- It has three colour receptor classes, like most people, but one of them sees ultraviolet.
- Its sharpest vision resolves 1.02 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
- It stops seeing flicker at 188.7 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks about 3.1 times slower to it.[8][9]
- Activity pattern: cathemeral.
The six dials
Evidence levels: how the tiers work. "Measured" means a value measured in this species; "Estimated" values come from a close relative or an eye-size formula.
| Dial | Value | Evidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | Colour receptors 3 receptor classes: 370 nm (UVS), 470 nm (SWS (blue)), 550 nm (LWS (long)) measured in this species | Measured | [1] |
| Ultraviolet yes: at least one receptor peaks in the ultraviolet | Measured | ||
| Sharpness | Acuity 1.02 cycles per degree median of 3 relatives in genus Myrmecia: Myrmecia gulosa, Myrmecia tarsata, Myrmecia pyriformis | Estimated | [2][3][4] |
| Angle between facets 1.7° median of 1 relatives in genus Myrmecia: Myrmecia gulosa | Estimated | [2] | |
| Eye type compound eye | |||
| Field of view | No value in the catalogue. | ||
| Sharp zones (foveas) | Number of foveas 0 median of 91 relatives in class Insecta: Empis prodromus, Rhamphomyia albidiventris, Rhamphomyia breviventris, Rhamphomyia maculipennis, Rhamphomyia marginata, Rhamphomyia murina | Group default | [5] |
| Fovea type none | Group default | [5] | |
| Night vision | Activity pattern cathemeral mode of 1 relatives in genus Myrmecia: Myrmecia gulosa | Estimated | [6] |
| Rods vs cones no rods (invertebrate photoreceptors) | Estimated | [6] | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | Flicker fusion frequency 188.7 Hz median of 1 rows (no bright-light flag) (behavioural/whole-eye ERG rows; all rows: [188.7]) | Measured | [7] |
Other senses
- polarisation vision: optional overlay of degree/angle of linear polarisation (Group default)
Related animals
- Western honey bee same vision type
- Bull ant (Myrmecia gulosa) same vision type
- Buff-tailed bumblebee same vision type
- Saharan silver ant same vision type
- Bull ant (Myrmecia tarsata) same vision type
- Bull ant (Myrmecia vindex) same vision type
More insects: all insects with measured vision data.
Sources
- van der Kooi CJ, Stavenga DG, Arikawa K, Belusic G, Kelber A. 2021. Evolution of insect color vision: from spectral sensitivity to visual ecology. Annu Rev Entomol 66:435-461. Supplementary table. doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-061720-071644
- Caves EM, Brandley NC, Johnsen S (2018) Visual acuity and the evolution of signals. Trends Ecol Evol 33:358-372. Supplementary Tables S1-S3.. doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.03.001
- AndrewPMeade/FabricTools, sciphy/data_utils/datasets/Arthropod.CompoundEyes.csv (acuity, body length, light, media for 281 arthropods; columns match Feller et al. 2021 Arthropod Struct Dev 60:101002). github.com/AndrewPMeade/FabricTools
- Feller KD, Sharkey CR, McDuffee-Altekruse A, Bracken-Grissom HD, Lord NP, Porter ML, Schweikert LE 2021. Surf and turf vision: patterns and predictors of visual acuity in compound eye evolution. Arthropod Structure & Development 60:101002. doi.org/10.1016/j.asd.2020.101002
- Comparative data for dance fly eye morphology and female ornamentation (Empididae). Data: Dryad doi:10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxd5z. doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxd5z
- Longcore T. 2023. A compendium of photopigment peak sensitivities and visual spectral response curves of terrestrial wildlife to guide design of outdoor nighttime lighting. Basic Appl Ecol 73:40-50. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2023.09.002. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8432720
- Haarlem CS, Hynes C, Jackson AL, Mitchell KJ, O'Connell RG, Healy K. 2026. Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom. Nature Ecology & Evolution (doi:10.1038/s41559-026-02994-7). Figshare dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475. doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475
- Healy K, McNally L, Ruxton GD, Cooper N, Jackson AL. 2013. Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Animal Behaviour 86:685-696. Table 1. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.018
- Inger R, Bennie J, Davies TW, Gaston KJ. 2014. Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering artificial light. PLoS ONE 9(5): e98631. Table 3. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098631
Every value cites its sources (all sources). Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this?