| Note that in the insect ommatidium cells are being specified and determined individually, not as groups of cells. |
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| Light that may strike a large patch of facets is concentrated on one ommatidium. |
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| For example, in the honeybee there are three photopigments in each ommatidium, with maximum sensitivities in the ultraviolet, the blue, and the green regions of the spectrum. |
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| In addition to photoreceptor cells, rhabdoms also contain pigment cells of various kinds that separate one ommatidium from the next and act to restrict the amount of light that each rhabdom receives. |
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| Although there is no further spatial resolution within a rhabdom, the various photoreceptors in each ommatidium do have the capacity to resolve two other features of the image, wavelength and plane of polarization. |
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| Each small eye, known as an ommatidium, consists of a corneal lens, a crystalline cone, and a light sensitive organ at the base. |
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| In 1967 German biologist Kuno Kirschfeld showed that the angles between the individual rhabdomeres in one ommatidium are the same as those between adjacent ommatidia. |
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| Each ommatidium has its own cornea, lens, and photoreceptor cells for distinguishing brightness and color. |
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| Each ommatidium contains six to eight sensory receptors arranged under a cornea and refractile cone and is surrounded by pigment cells, which adjust the intensity of light. |
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