Cellular innovations and diversity in the lepidopteran compound eye.

ABSTRACT: Lepidoptera, having co-diversified with flowering plants and adapted to various diel niches, present a remarkable system for studying compound eye cell type diversity. Here we synthesize the latest research regarding Lepidopteran eye evolution across different timescales, from species-level variation to family-level changes, and mechanistic levels, from broad anatomical variation to molecular mechanisms responsible for spectral tuning. Opsin duplication, differential expression, and co-expression, combined with lateral filtering pigments, generate diverse spectral sensitivities in photoreceptors. Lateral filtering is particularly important for the convergent evolution of red vision. These diverse photoreceptors combine to form a handful of ommatidial types distributed differentially across

SUBMITTER: Lu W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12467619 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature