New discovery in Drosophila color vision

In the December 2013 issue of Current Biology Schnaitmann et al. discovered that Drosophila color vision functions differently than originally thought.  Drosophila have 8 long-wavelength-sensitive receptors, called R1-8, that play a role in vision. Previous studies equated Drosophila color vision to that of humans; where R1-6 functioned in achromatic vision similar to human rods, and R1-8 functioned in chromatic vision similar to human cones. The authors found, however, that R1-6 also contribute to color vision. This implies that fly color vision is more efficient than previously thought. The authors also suggest that flies have a conserved insect color vision system, and this new discovery will inform the understanding of vision in bees and other insects.