WAVE LENGTH OF LIGHT AND PHOTIC INHIBITION OF STEREOTROPISM IN TENEBRIO LARVÆ

A definite intensity of white light is required (about 136 m.c.) to produce negative phototropic orientation of creeping Tenebrio larvæ away from contact with a vertical glass surface. This gives a measure of stereotropism in terms of phototropism, or reciprocally. The effectiveness of light for the suppression of stereotropism varies with wave length. It is therefore simple to obtain a measure of the relation between wave length and stimulating efficiency in this case of phototropic orientation. By determinations of the minimal energy required to inhibit stereotropism with different regions of the spectrum, it is found that the maximum effectiveness is sharply localized in the neighborhood of 535µµ. The curve connecting stimulating efficiency with wave length, while giving a picture of the effective absorption by the photosensory receptors, probably does not permit accurate characterization of the essential photosensitive material.