Data from: Bumblebee visual allometry results in locally improved resolution and globally improved sensitivity

The quality of visual information that is available to an animal is
limited by the size of its eyes. Differences in eye size can be observed
even between closely related individuals, yet we understand little about
how this affects vision. Insects are good models for exploring the effects
of size on visual systems because many insect species exhibit size
polymorphism. Previous work has been limited by difficulties in
determining the 3D structure of eyes. We have developed a novel method
based on x-ray microtomography to measure the 3D structure of insect eyes
and to calculate predictions of their visual capabilities. We used our
method to investigate visual allometry in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris
and found that size affects specific aspects of vision, including
binocular overlap, optical sensitivity, and dorsofrontal visual
resolution. This reveals that differential scaling between eye areas
provides flexibility that improves the visual capabilities of larger
bumblebees.