3. The perception of polarized light in desert ants

3.1 The ant's compound eye

Like all arthropods, ants have compound eyes (figure 2 A-C). A compound eye is a convex structure made up of a myriad of optical systems or "ommatidia". Each forms a single, independent visual receptor (figure 2 D). An ommatidia consists of a cornea forming a hexagonal facet (figure 2 E), a transparent crystalline cone (lens) guiding light rays to the rhabdome (figure 2 D), the central axis of the ommatidia,...