Circadian light entrainment in some insects is regulated by blue-light sensitive cryptochrome (CRY) protein that is expressed in the clock neurons, but this is not the case in hymenopterans. The hymenopteran clock does contain CRY, but it appears to be light-insensitive. Therefore, we investigated the role of retinal photoreceptors in the photic entrainment of the jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis. Application of monochromatic light stimuli at different light intensities caused phase shifts in the wasp’s circadian activity from which an action spectrum with three distinct peaks was derived. Electrophysiological recordings from the compound eyes and ocelli revealed the presence of three photoreceptor classes, with peak sensitivities at 340 nm (ultraviolet), 450 nm (blue), and 530 nm (green). An additional photoreceptor class in the ocelli with sensitivity maximum at 560–580 nm (red) was found. Whereas a simple sum of photoreceptor spectral sensitivities could not explain the action spectrum of the circadian phase shifts, modelling of the action spectrum indicates antagonistic interactions between pairs of spectral photoreceptors, residing in the compound eyes and the ocelli. Our findings imply that the photic entrainment mechanism in N. vitripennis encompasses the neural pathways for measuring the absolute luminance as well as the circuits mediating colour opponency. 

This dataset consists of all processed data (behavioural data and electrophysiology data) needed to reproduce the analysis of the circadian action spectrum in Nasonia vitripennis, as described in the manuscript under the same title.

Data included here: the behaviour phase shifts data under different photoperiods and for phase response curve under 14:10 LD, the circadian action spectrum data, and the electrophysiology measurements in the compound eyes and ocelli of Nasonia.

All the R/MatLab scripts needed to process the data and reproduce the analysis are also included in this dataset.

Briefly: For all phase shift behaviour experiments, Nasonia vitripennis was entrained under a certain light-dark cycle for 7 days. On day 8 some Nasonia was subjected to different light stimulation, and they then were left in the darkness for another 10 days. In total, we tested Nasonia's phase shift responses under 14 wavelengths and 4 different light intensities per wavelength. By constructing this circadian action spectrum, we were able to identify the circadian photoreceptors involved in regulating this behaviour. Please see the manuscript and R/MatLab scripts for more details on the methodology and analysis.

File extensions of the deposited data files include .xlsx and .csv for the processed data and .R and .m for the scripts.