Butterflies make extensive use of color vision in mating, food finding and egg deposition. Their natural history and genetics have been studied extensively. For these reasons they are an excellent organism from which to learn general principles related to color vision. Dr. Bernard has developed methods by which it is possible to measure the sensitivity of butterfly photoreceptors to light of different wavelengths in living animals. He has demonstrated that there is great diversity between butterfly species in this regard. In this project he is exploring this matter further, correlating the spectral sensitivities with the colors of host plants and of butterflies of the opposite sex and of other species. These studies should contribute much to our understanding of the relationship of color vision to specific behaviors.
