The jumping spider Saitis barbipes lacks a red photoreceptor to see its own sexually dimorphic red coloration.

ABSTRACT: Examining the role of color in mate choice without testing what colors the study animal is capable of seeing can lead to ill-posed hypotheses and erroneous conclusions. Here, we test the seemingly reasonable assumption that the sexually dimorphic red coloration of the male jumping spider Saitis barbipes is distinguishable, by females, from adjacent black color patches. Using microspectrophotometry, we find clear evidence for photoreceptor classes with maximal sensitivity in the UV (359 nm) and green (526 nm), inconclusive evidence for a photoreceptor maximally sensitive in the blue (451 nm), and no evidence for a red photoreceptor. No colored filters within the lens or retina could be found to shift green sensitivity to red. To quantify and visualize whether females may nevertheless be cap

SUBMITTER: Glenszczyk M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8665921 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature