Dr Adrian Dyer

B App Sci, PhD (RMIT University)

QEII Research Fellow – Department of Physiology

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Thermographic Image of Bumblebee on Flower showing temperature difference, Bee Group Wuerzburg.

Adrian Dyer is a vision scientist seeking to understand the comparative physiology of vision, and the possible useful applications that can be derived to improve human activities.

Current investigations on insect vision include investigating how honeybees use their vision in complex natural environments to make decisions (with support from the ARC DP0878968, ARC DP0987989 and the USAF AOARD).

DP0878968 (Colour visual processing by honeybees: solutions for decision making in complex environments) is a collaboration with Professor Marcello Rosa.

Project summary: Honeybees are a cost and time efficient animal model for testing how information is processed in a miniature brain containing less than 0.01% of the number of cells found in a human brain. Bees use their ultraviolet, blue and green colour vision to efficiently find flowers in complex environments. This project investigates how colour information is processed by bees, and develops computer models to evaluate how novel solutions might be applicable for robotic vision. The model also allows for testing of how environmental factors, like changes in climate, might affect the way in which bees choose to visit certain flower types, including plants that have important environmental and economic impacts.

DP0987989 (Organization and Plasticity of Visual Processing in a Miniature Brain) is a collaboration with Dr David Reser.

Project summary: To recognise objects a brain must have an internal representation of most likely object appearance. Two ways in which brains may posses this information include a hard wired template system, and/or the neuroplasticity to learn novel objects. Recent investigations on honeybee vision show that this animal can learn to recognise very difficult objects, although currently we do not know how the miniaturised bee brain manages these tasks. This project will reveal changes that occur in the processing of visual objects by the bee’s brain with increasing experience, with potential applications including robotics or building interfaces between sensors and biological systems.

Current investigations on human vision include studying Forensic Document Examiner visual attention whilst test subjects solve complex visual tasks like discriminating forged signatures from genuine signatures. This is collaboration with La Trobe University (Doug Rogers, Bryan Found and Jodi Sita). 

Recent peer reviewed publications

Please email Adrian Dyer if you require a reprint

33. Dyer AG, Vuong QC (2008) Insect Brains Use Image Interpolation Mechanisms to Recognise Rotated Objects. PLoS ONE 3(12): e4086.  *PDF available free from PLoS ONE

32. Burns J and Dyer AG (2008) Diversity of speed accuracy strategies benefits social insects. Current Biology 18, 953-954.

31. Dyer AG, Found B, Rogers D (2008) An insight into forensic document examiner expertise for discriminating between forged and disguised signatures. J Forensic Sci 53, No. 5

30. Dyer AG, Spaethe J, Prack S (2008) Comparative psychophysics of bumblebee and honeybee colour discrimination and object detection. J Comp Physiol A 194, 617-627.

29. Whitney HM, Dyer AG, Chittka L, Rands S, Glover B (2008) The interaction of temperature and sucrose concentration on foraging preferences in bumblebees. Naturwissenschaften 95:845-850.

28. Dyer AG, Rosa MGP, Reser DH (2008).Honeybees can recognise images of complex natural scenes for use as potential landmarks.  J Exp Biol. 211, 1180-1186.

27. Williams SK, Dyer AG, Reser D (2008) A Biologically Inspired Mechano-optical Imaging System Based in Insect Vision. J Biol. Comm. 34, E3-E7.

26. Dyer AG (2007) Windy condition affected colour discrimination in bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus). Entomologia generalis 30, 165-166.

25. Dyer AG, Whitney HM, Arnold S, Glover BJ, Chittka L (2007) Mutations perturbing petal cell shape and anthocyanin synthesis influence bumblebee perception of Antirrhinum majus flower colour.Arthropod-Plant Interactions 1, 45-55.

24. Indsto J, Weston PH, Clements M, Dyer AG, Batley M, Whelan RJ (2007) Diuris alba (Orchidaceae) is pollinated by small bees and wasps and shows evidence of weak pea flower mimicry Aust J Bot 55, 628–634.

23. Williams S, Dyer AG (2007) A photographic simulation of insect vision. Journal Ophthalmic Photography 29, 10-14.

22. Dyer AG, Whitney HM, Arnold S, Glover BJ, Chittka L (2006) Bees associate warmth with floral colour.Nature. 442, 525.

21. Indsto J, Weston PH, Clements M, Dyer AG, Batley M, Whelan RJ (2006) Pollination of Diuris maculate (Orchidaceae) by male Trichocolletes venustus bees. Aust J Bot 54, 669-679.

20. Dyer AG, Found B; Rogers D (2006) Visual attention and expertise for forensic signature analysis. J Forensic Sci 51, 1397-1404.

19. Dyer AG (2006) Bee discrimination of flower colours in natural settings. Entomologia generalis 28, 257-268.

18. Dyer AG (2006) Bumblebees directly perceive variations in the spectral quality of illumination. J Comp Physiol A 192, 333–338.

17. Dyer AG (2006). Response to ‘What can bees really tell us about the face processing system in humans?’. J Exp Biol. 209, 3267.

16. Dyer AG, Neumeyer C, Chittka L (2005) Honeybee (Apis mellifera) vision can discriminate between and recognize images of human faces. J Exp Biol 208, 4709–4714.

15. Dyer AG, Williams S (2005) Mechano-optical lens array to simulate insect vision photographically. The Imaging Science Journal 53, 209–213.

14. Dyer AG, Neumeyer C (2005) Simultaneous and successive colour discrimination in the honeybee (Apis mellifera). J Comp Physiol A 191, 547–557.

13. Dyer AG, Chittka L (2004) Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) sacrifice foraging speed to solve difficult colour discrimination tasks. J Comp Physiol A 190, 759–763.

12. Dyer AG, Muir LL, Muntz WRA (2004) A calibrated gray scale for forensic ultraviolet photography. J Forensic Sci 49, 1056–1058.

11. Dyer AG, Chittka L (2004) Fine colour discrimination requires differential conditioning in bumblebees. Naturwissenschaften 91, 224–227.

10. Dyer AG, Chittka L (2004) The biological significance of distinguishing between similar colours in spectrally variable illumination: bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) as a study case. J Comp Physiol A 190, 105–114.

9. Dyer AG, Chitka L (2004) Bumblebee search time without ultraviolet light. J Exp Biol 207, 1683–1688.

8. Chittka L, Dyer AG, Bock F, Dornhaus A (2003) Bees trade off foraging speed for accuracy Nature 424, 388.

7. Dyer AG (2001) Ocular filtering of ultraviolet radiation and the spectral spacing of photoreceptors benefit von Kries colour constancy. J Exp Biol 204, 2391–2399.

6. Kevan PG, Chittka L, Dyer AG (2001) Limits to the salience of the ultraviolet: lessons from the birds and the bees. J Exp Biol 204, 2571–2580.

5. Dyer AG (1999) Broad spectral sensitivities in the honeybee’s photoreceptors limit colour constancy. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 185, 445–453.

4. Dyer AG (1999) Atmospheric ozone concentration and the colour vision of insect pollinators. Australian Journal of Zoology 47, 529–538.

3. Dyer AG (1998) The colour of flowers in spectrally variable illumination and insect pollinator vision. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 183, 203–212.

2. Dyer AG (1996) The reflection of near ultraviolet radiation from flowers of Australian Native Plants. Aust J Bot 44, 473-488.

1. Dyer AG (1996) Measurement of reflected near-ultraviolet and visibleradiations recorded on a two-dimensional radiation sensitive surface. Journal of Biomedical Imaging 2, 6–10.

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