Fine Structure and Optical Features of the Compound Eyes of Adult Female Ceratosolen gravelyi (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae)

作者：Hua Xie, Yan Shi, Shouxian Zhang, Yonghui Zhu, Subo Shao, Yuan Zhang, Pei Yang, Zongbo Li · 发表于：Insects · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3390/insects16070682 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Medicine

Simple Summary Fig wasps and fig trees depend on each other to survive, and wasps locate their host trees with their sense of smell. However, the role that vision plays in locating host trees remains unclear. Here, we examined the eye structure of female Ceratosolen gravelyi wasps (which only pollinate Ficus semicordata) using scanning/transmission electron microscopy. Their oval-shaped eyes have 228–263 tiny eye units (ommatidia). Each unit has a clear lens, a four-part light-focusing structure, and light-sensing cells wrapped in pigment cells. The retinula cells form a rhabdom with nine cells per unit. Eight photoreceptors (R1–R8) form the rhabdom from the cone base to the basal matrix, and a ninth cell replaces R8 in the apical third of the rhabdom. Various optical measurements revealed that their eyes collect light efficiently. These features are consistent with their daytime activity, suggesting that their eyes process visual cues when approaching figs. This indicates that vision likely works with smell and touch to guide wasps to the right trees. Our findings thus enhance our understanding of how senses work together to mediate fig-wasp interactions.