[Spectral sensitivity of photoreceptors of the compound eye of the locust].

Intracellular recordings have shown that there are three types of receptors in the retina of the locust with lambda max = 360, 430 and 530 nm. Their spectral sensitivity curves are considerably wider than the absorption curves of the corresponding pigments. On the basis of spectral sensitivity curves obtained and assuming that each receptor contains only one pigment, possible coefficients of electrical coupling between receptors with different spectral characteristics are calculated. They correspond to coefficients of electrical coupling obtained by Shaw and Lillywhite in the locust. Thus the observed broadening of spectral sensitivity curves as compared with the absorption curves of pigments may be caused by electrical coupling between receptors.