Function and perception of dynamic colours

This project aims to address a fundamental biological question: what drives the extraordinary diversity of colours in nature? Our current research framework often takes a largely static view of animal colouration. However, appearance can change with movement of the animal or observer, background movement or changing lighting conditions. This can be particularly dramatic for dynamic colours, such as iridescence and gloss, which are angle-dependent visual effects. This project aims to uncover how the dynamic nature of iridescence and gloss contributes to visual functions, and the impact of environmental condition on function. To address these questions we have worked with beetles, spiders, praying mantids and birds.

David Pike Flickr

Deep red vision and heat sensing in beetles

Insects have miniature brains and sensory systems that are remarkably efficient at processing vast amounts of information to perform complex behaviours. Despite this incredible feat, the sensory abilities described to date represent only a portion of insect diversity and we have limited understanding of how multiple sensory modalities inform behaviour. This project aims to address this gap by combining anatomy, physiology and behaviour to uncover how insects detect and integrate two uncommon sensory modalities - deep red vision and heat sensing. The research focuses on buprestid fire beetles, which are known for their attraction to bushfires and have independently evolved entirely different heat sensors to support this behaviour.