Summary
Superposition images according to Exner (1891) are observed behind fresh eye-cups ofEphestia which were mounted with gelatine on a cover-glass and kept in a moist chamber. Their position was determined as 125±15 μm proximal to the crystalline cone tip having made allowance for the passage of light through media of different refractive indices. This distance places the image in the rhabdom layer as determined by histology. The same holds for the superposition image constructed from calculated ray paths in the dioptric system ofEphestia. The computer aided calculation was based on refractive index measurements in cornea and cone. It was carried out by applying Snell's law for infinitesimally thin sections. The dioptric system shows properties analogous to a Kepler telescope adjusted for infinity. Parallel incoming light with an angle of up to 22° to the axis is focused in a plane about half way down the cone and leaves the cone again in direction of the rhabdom layer almost parallel. The angular magnification of the system is 1.32.
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We thank Mrs. E. Ludwig for typing the manuscript, Mrs. I. Wolf and Ms. S. Nerlich for assistance in preparing the figures, and Prof. K. Kirschfeld for critically reading part of the manuscript.
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Cleary, P., Deichsel, G. & Kunze, P. The superposition image in the eye ofEphestia kühniella . J. Comp. Physiol. 119, 73–84 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00655873
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00655873