# Visual physiology of Australian stingless bees

## TL;DR

This paper compares the visual abilities of two Australian stingless bee species, finding differences in contrast sensitivity that may relate to their foraging behaviors.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into the visual physiology of Australian stingless bees using pattern electroretinography.

## Key findings

- Austroplebeia australis has higher contrast sensitivity (13.07) compared to Tetragonula carbonaria (5.99).
- A. australis has more and larger ommatidial facets than T. carbonaria.
- The two species do not differ in spatial resolving power (0.53 cycles deg−1).

## Abstract

Stingless bees engage in a range of visually guided behaviours that require relatively high spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity. Although the eyes of honeybees, bumblebees, carpenter bees, and sweat bees have been studied extensively, there is limited knowledge of stingless bees. Here, we studied two sympatric Australian species, Tetragonula carbonaria and Austroplebeia australis, which are important crop pollinators. The bigger A. australis had more and larger ommatidial facets compared to T. carbonaria. Using pattern electroretinography, we showed that A. australis had higher contrast sensitivity (13.07) compared to T. carbonaria (5.99), but their spatial resolving power did not differ (0.53 cycles deg−1). We discuss these differences in visual physiology in the context of the distinct foraging behaviours of the two species.