Fig. 2

Overview of opsin expression during pupal and adolescent development of workers and drones. Relative mRNA expression levels of ultraviolet (UVop), blue (BLop) and green (Lop1) opsin genes in the compound eyes were evaluated during pupal and early adult development of workers (upper half) and drones (lower half; only the dorsal part of the compound eye) by means of qPCR. Opsin expression was normalized separately for each opsin gene to the expression level of newly emerged bees. a,c: Opsin mRNA levels in both sexes strongly increased after eclosion up to 22-fold. b,d: In contrast to the pupal phase, the relative proportions of opsin expression levels remained constant after eclosion in workers but not in drones. Error bars indicate standard deviation. NE, newly emerged; A7, 7-day old; A14, 14-day old