Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Woodlice vision

This question was posted in the bumblebee section below.

Hi there! Sorry for asking this here. But do you know why woodlice 'prefer' red light to blue light?

I had never heard of this before. I just thought that woodlice prefer low light levels. So does anyone else out there know about this?

I imagine it would be easy to set up an experiment using LED light which is high in the blue end of the spectrum, and an incandescent lightbulb which is high in the red end. But my money goes on the woodlice scuttling under and cover they can find.
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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous10 May 2011 at 23:32

    from same anonymous of yesterday:
    http://www.porcellio.scaber.org/woodlice/results1.htm#1.%20Red%20Light%20vs%20Blue%20Light%20preference

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  2. Anonymous10 May 2011 at 23:38

    In the same site I found this:
    It may be an advantage for woodlice if they are able to tell the difference between light from the extremes of the spectrum - which coloured light is more likely to be found in 'cooler' regions?

    So is red light supposed to be found more often in cooler regions??

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  3. Laura11 May 2011 at 07:47

    The difference between red and blue light is simply the wavelength.
    Woodlice prefer dim areas to bright areas, and when offered the choice between red and blue lit areas of equal intensity they choose the red areas. So I would assume their eyes are more sensitive to light at the blue end of the visible specrtum, than ligth ar the red end of the spectrum (they are at opposite ends).
    This is common in some insects too. Bumblebees can see all the way into the UV, but cannot see red at all

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