How does the coffee bee hawkmoth see?
The coffee bee hawkmoth (Cephonodes hylas) is a insect in the order Lepidoptera. Its eyes belong to the vision type Butterfly multispectral.
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.
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What stands out
- It has three colour receptor classes, like most people, but one of them sees ultraviolet.
- Its sharpest vision resolves 0.31 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
- It stops seeing flicker at 105 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks about 1.8 times slower to it.[9][10]
- Activity pattern: nocturnal.
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: 380 nm (UVS), 460 nm (SWS (blue)), 520 nm (MWS (green)) measured in this species | Measured | [1] |
| Ultraviolet yes: at least one receptor peaks in the ultraviolet | Measured | ||
| Sharpness | Acuity 0.31 cycles per degree median of 3 relatives in family Sphingidae: Deilephila elpenor, Macroglossum stellatarum, Manduca sexta | Estimated | [2] |
| Angle between facets 1.23° median of 2 relatives in family Sphingidae: Deilephila elpenor, Manduca sexta | Estimated | [3] | |
| 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 | [4] |
| Fovea type none | Group default | [4] | |
| Night vision | Activity pattern nocturnal mode of 12 relatives in family Sphingidae: Darapsa myron, Hemaris diffinis, Xylophanes tersa, Sphinx pinastri, Macroglossum pyrrhosticta, Manduca sexta | Estimated | [5][6][7] |
| Rods vs cones no rods (invertebrate photoreceptors) | Estimated | [5][6][7] | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | Flicker fusion frequency 105 Hz median of 1 rows (no bright-light flag) (behavioural/whole-eye ERG rows; all rows: [105.0]) | Measured | [8] |
Related animals
- Asian swallowtail same vision type
- Common bluebottle butterfly same vision type
- Common eggfly same vision type
- Common evening brown same vision type
- Monarch butterfly same vision type
- Small white 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
- 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
- Currea JP, Sondhi Y, Kawahara AY, Theobald J. 2023. Measuring compound eye optics with microscope and microCT images. Commun Biol 6:246
- Comparative data for dance fly eye morphology and female ornamentation (Empididae). Data: Dryad doi:10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxd5z. doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxd5z
- Feuda R, Marletaz F, Bentley MA, Holland PWH. 2016. Conservation, duplication, and divergence of five opsin genes in insect evolution. Genome Biol Evol 8:579-587
- 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
- Sondhi Y, Ellis EA, Bybee SM, Theobald JC, Kawahara AY. 2021. Light environment drives evolution of color vision genes in butterflies and moths. Commun Biol 4:177
- 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?